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Thread: James Ben Brownfield, Jr. - Alabama Death Row

  1. #1
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    James Ben Brownfield, Jr. - Alabama Death Row


    Joshua Hodges, 3




    Summary of Offense:

    “After consuming Xanax pills on the night of December 23, 2001, the twenty-seven year old defendant, James Ben Brownfield, Jr., became enraged with his sister, Brenda Whitehead McCutchin, over drugs and money. While Brenda and her grandson, Joshua Dewayne Hodges, were sleeping in their bed, the defendant decided to kill his sister and her estranged husband, Latham Durwood McCutchin. The defendant took a claw hammer into the room where Brenda and Joshua were sleeping and hit Brenda with it. When the defendant hit Brenda, Joshua awoke crying. At that time, the defendant began hitting both Brenda and Joshua with the claw hammer. Brenda suffered approximately twenty forceful blows to the head and other injuries to her body. Joshua suffered approximately sixteen blows to the head and other injuries to his body. Both Brenda and Joshua died from multiple blunt-force injuries. Before he left Brenda's house, the defendant attempted to burn the house with kerosene and a cigarette.

    “After killing Brenda and Joshua, the defendant took the claw hammer and a set of clean clothes and drove across town to the residence of his brother-in-law, Latham Durwood McCutchin. The defendant initially pretended a friendly visit with Latham but later inside the residence, the defendant informed Latham that he was going to kill him. The defendant and Latham struggled for the claw hammer with the defendant subduing Latham by hitting him with his fists and the hammer. Latham suffered numerous injuries. He suffered at least ten forceful blows to the head with the claw hammer, bruising to the lower chest, arms, and hands, fractured ribs and a fractured vertebra. Later, the defendant stabbed Latham in the heart and cut his throat with a knife. Latham died from multiple blunt-force injuries. After killing Latham, the defendant showered and dressed in the clean clothes. He gathered the soiled clothes, claw hammer, and knife and placed them in a garbage bag that he found at Latham's house.

    “The defendant left Latham's house and went to a Christmas party where he saw friends and acquaintances. He told his friend, Nick Logan, that he was moving to Tennessee because he and Brenda had argued and she had kicked him out of the house. Later, the defendant left the party and drove toward Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama. He placed the garbage bag of evidence in a dumpster in Stevenson and drove back to Scottsboro. The defendant had contact with friends throughout the day of December 24, 2001. The night of December 24, 2001, the defendant went to Tammy Farmer's apartment. During conversations with Tammy, his girlfriend, the defendant confessed to the murders of Brenda, Joshua, and Latham.

    Brownfield was sentenced to death in 2004.

    http://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-court-...s/1107373.html

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Jackson County Convicted Killer Wants New Trial

    Scottsboro, AL - A man convicted of murder in Jackson County wants off death row and he's hoping for a new trial. Lawyers for James Brownfield say he had inadequate legal counsel and didn't get a fair trial in 2001.

    Wednesday morning relatives of the victims were in the county courthouse in Scottsboro for a hearing to protest the request of Brownfield. On Christmas eve of 2001, Brownfield used a hammer to kill his sister Brenda McCutchin and her husband Latham. He then used the same weapon to kill his great nephew, 3-year-old Joshua Hodges.

    Milford McCutchin wants justice for his family. His brother Latham was one of the victims. "He took a claw hammer and beat his sister and her grandchild with that claw hammer" McCutchin said. "He committed three murders, what else does he deserve. He don't deserve nothing else. He deserves death and death only".

    Assistant Alabama Attorney General Tina Hammonds wants to make sure Brownfield's conviction is upheld. "When we have a jury of our peers to convict and a judge in Alabama to sentence someone for the death penalty and these are the most horrific crimes that we have" Hammonds said. "And as a society we need to make sure the people who committed them actually suffer the consequences".

    James Brownfield was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to death for the murders. In 2009 the Alabama Supreme Court denied Brownfield's initial appeal to overturn the conviction.

    http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/sto...helFOCiXw.cspx

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Death row inmate appeals triple murder conviction

    A death row inmate returned to North Alabama for new hearings in his triple murder case.

    James Brownfield was back in a Jackson County courtroom, more than nine years after he was found guilty of capital murder.

    Brownfield was convicted of killing of his sister, Brenda McCutchen, his brother-in-law, Latham McCutchen, and Brenda's grandson, Joshua Hodges, on Christmas Day 2001.

    On Monday, Brownfield's appeal attorneys questioned Gary Hartline about his handling of the case while representing Brownfield.

    Meanwhile, members of the victim's family were in the courtroom. They feel that Brownfield got the death penalty and deserves the death penalty.

    "It's a waste of the taxpayer's money. He's been found guilty in several different courts and I think it's time to do something about it," said the victims' relative, Wanda McCutchen.

    The hearing is expected to last most of the week.

    http://www.waff.com/story/22904530/d...der-conviction
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    After Thursday execution in 2005 slaying, why is Scottsboro triple-murderer still in court 12 years later?

    James Ben Brownfield Jr. -- convicted of killing his sister, brother-in-law and 3-year-old great-nephew on Christmas Eve 2001 -- was in Jackson County Circuit Court for an appeals hearings this week, and the process is still years from its end, said District Attorney Charles Rhodes.

    Brownfield's hearing was postponed Thursday because of a scheduling conflict and he was returned to Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. Only hours later, Andrew Lackey, 28, was executed at Holman Correctional Facility for the 2005 Halloween night slaying of an 80-year-old World War II veteran in Athens.

    Both were brutal attacks. Brownfield, 39, was convicted of killing his sister, Brenda McCutchin, and her grandson, Joshua Hodges, by beating them with a claw hammer in their sleep, and then stabbing to death his brother-in-law, Latham McCutchin. Police found scrawled messages on the walls of both homes, including "Killing is my business" and "It's about to pick up."

    Brownfield confessed to the slayings on two videotapes admitted at trial.

    Lackey was convicted in Limestone County in 2008 of stabbing elderly Charlie Newman 70 times as the man begged, "Let me pray for you."

    Rhodes said he was surprised Lackey's execution occurred in what is a relatively short time for the appeals process until he learned Lackey made a request to stop appeals. In June 2012, Lackey asked to be put to death.

    The longest-serving of Alabama's 192 death row inmates is Arthur Lee Giles, 54, who was convicted 34 years ago for the 1978 murders of Carl and Willene Nelson in Morgan County. Their three children and the children's 85-year-old grandmother were wounded in the attack but survived.

    Although Brownfield's hearing, which was continued until August, will likely mark the end of his available state appeals, his attorneys are expected to file appeals in federal court if this ruling is not in their client's favor.

    "It could still be several years yet," Rhodes said. "After this point, they've used up every avenue in the state system and will try to get into the federal system and show some kind of constitutional violations they will have alleged to have occurred."

    Rhodes, who prosecuted Brownfield in 2004, is not the attorney for the appeals. Those are handled by the state Attorney General's Office, but Rhodes said he was in court as a consultant for the state during Brownfield's hearing this week.

    The hearing before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Holt will determine if anything occurred in Brownfield's initial conviction to warrant granting a new trial.

    The prosecution had the videotaped confessions and DNA evidence in the initial trial and the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the conviction in a 2009 ruling.

    http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/07/...ion_in_20.html
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  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Post-conviction appeal denied by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on the 15th of December 2017.

    https://cases.justia.com/alabama/cou...?ts=1513369810

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Alabama Supreme Court won't look at cases of three men on death row

    By Ivana Hrynkiw
    al.com

    The Alabama Supreme Court won't review the cases of several men on the state's death row.

    According to its weekly order list issued Friday, the state's highest court has denied writs of certiorari--or requests to review the cases-- to Oscar Doster, James Ben Brownfield, and Nicholas Bernard Acklin.

    Doster was convicted of the 2002 murder of Paul LeMaster in Covington County, which happened while he and three other men were on the run after escaping the county jail. He was arrested, but broke out again and killed a man in Texas in 2005, court records show. He pleaded guilty in the Texas case, and was sentenced to life in prison.

    Brownfield was convicted of killing his sister, brother-in-law and 3-year-old great-nephew on Christmas Eve 2001. His sister, Brenda McCutchin, and her grandson, Joshua Hodges, were beat with a claw hammer in their sleep, and Brownfield's brother-in-law Latham McCutchin was stabbed to death. Police found scrawled messages on the walls of the home, including "Killing is my business" and "It's about to pick up."

    Acklin is on death row for his role in the 1996 Huntsville "cell phone murders." He and two other men, Joey Wilson and Corey Johnson, were convicted in the fatal shootings of four people on Sept. 25, 1996 and the wounding of two others at a home on University Drive. The shootings followed a previous incident where someone in the home had reported to the Madison County Sheriff's Department that Wilson had stolen his cell phone.

    Acklin and Wilson were both convicted and received death sentences while Johnson, who police say did not fire a shot, was released from prison in 2011.

    The state supreme court didn't write opinions on any of the three cases.

    https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/i..._wont_loo.html

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    AL Supreme Court upholds death sentence for Jackson County triple murderer

    By Jonathan Grass
    WAFF

    The Alabama Supreme Court has denied the appeal of a Jackson County man's capital murder convictions and death sentence.

    James Ben Brownfield, 43, of Scottsboro, was convicted of three counts of capital murder in 2004 for the murders of his sister, Brenda McCutchin, his brother-in-law, Latham McCutchin, and his sister's 3-year-old grandson, Joshua Hodges.

    According to Marshall, evidence presented at trial established that Brownfield consumed Xanax pills on Dec. 23, 2001, became enraged with his sister over drugs and money, then killed her and Joshua with a claw hammer. Branda McCutchin suffered approximately 20 blows to the head and other injuries to her body. Joshua suffered approximately 16 blows to the head and other injuries to his body. They both died from multiple blunt force injuries.

    Brownfield tried to burn the house with kerosene and a cigarette before leaving.

    After killing Brenda McCutchin and Joshua, Brownfield took the claw hammer and a set of clean clothes and drove across town to her estranged husband's home, pretended it was a friendly visit to gain access, then hit him with his fists and the hammer. Latham McCutchin suffered numerous injuries, including 10 forceful blows to the head with the claw hammer. Brownfield then stabbed him in the heart and cut his throat with a knife, Marshall said. Latham died from multiple blunt force injuries.

    The Jackson County district attorney’s office prosecuted the case. Brownfield was found guilty, and a Jackson County jury recommended the death penalty. The trial judge followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Brownfield to death.

    Brownfield’s subsequent attempts to have his convictions and sentence reversed on appeal have been rejected by the courts. The request was denied Friday.

    http://www.waff.com/story/38452572/a...riple-murderer
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  8. #8
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On February 28, 2019, Brownfield filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/al...cv00356/169398

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