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Thread: Joshua Eugene Russell - Alabama

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Alabama law allows judges to override a jury's recommendation.
    I love it when this happens!
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  2. #12
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JimKay's Avatar
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    Yep. Killing or causing the death of an on-duty officer should get you an automatic death sentence. I believe this was once the case in several states, but then we were told to feel sorry for murderers.

  3. #13
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Third anniversary of murder of Anniston police officer

    ANNISTON, Ala. - The family of Justin Sollohub took him off of life support three years ago Monday.

    "He lived from the 24th to the 25th for the organ donation," Jeniffer Morris said about her son.

    "Organ donation needs to be important to everybody. We never know, when there's somebody in our [family], when it hits home, that somebody needs an organ. It is important to us but it needs to be important to everybody."

    Sollohub's family said August 24 is the hardest day of the year, as that was the day Joshua Russell shot and killed the 27-year-old police officer. A Lee County jury convicted Russell of capital murder in September, and a Calhoun County judge sentenced him to the death penalty in December.

    Morris said the first anniversary since the conviction is not any easier than the previous two.

    "Having a conviction behind us, I'm glad it's over, but it doesn't make us miss him any less. Nothing's going to bring us back," she said.

    "I'm glad of the outcome of the trial, the conviction and everything. I appreciate everything the district attorney's office did for us ... but it doesn't affect the memorial of the day he died."

    There is a memorial to Sollohub at the Centennial Memorial Park in Anniston. It is the veteran's memorial for the state, and will in the future also have a memorial to other law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

    Morris visited her son's memorial Sunday and Monday. For the first time, she also went to the place where Russell shot Sollohub.

    "It was something I felt like I needed to do, it doesn't bring closure but I felt like it was a chapter left open, that I needed to close that chapter, and we did that. We took some beautiful flowers, and laid them where he last laid," she said.

    "Some neighbors out there came out and spoke with us and talked to us and gave us hugs and let us know that we had their prayers, and that we were in their hearts and minds all the time."

    Morris said she continues to be grateful for the people who give support to her family.

    http://www.abc3340.com/story/2636716...police-officer

  4. #14
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Russell’s sentence was reversed on direct appeal on the 8th of September 2017.

    https://cases.justia.com/alabama/cou...?ts=1504899011

  5. #15
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
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    Joshua Russell is back on Alabama Death Row, as shown in the ADOC roster updated on 12/09/2021.

    http://www.doc.state.al.us/deathrow

  6. #16
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Man gets life in prison for 2011 murder of Anniston police officer Justin Sollohub

    By Ashley Morrison
    The Anniston Star

    A Lee County jury Thursday sentenced Joshua Russell to prison for the rest of his life for the 2011 murder of Anniston police officer Justin Sollobub, who was 27 at the time of his death.

    Russell, 35, had been convicted of the crime in 2013, but that sentence was reversed in an appellate court in 2017 and he was granted a new sentencing trial.

    A jury of 12, nine women and three men, deliberated less than 90 minutes before sentencing Russell to life in prison in an 11-1 vote, the single vote being for the death penalty.

    Calhoun County Judge Bud Turner charged the jury after closing arguments Thursday morning at the Lee County Justice Center in Opelika. Sollohub’s surviving family members and members of the Anniston Police Department were present in the courtroom.

    Anniston police Chief Nick Bowles said the verdict was not the option the department would have preferred.

    “The jury of Lee County has spoken. We have to live with it, but APD wholly disagrees with it. I believe in equal punishment for equal crimes. Joshua Russell will get to see and talk to his family, while Sollohub’s family and friends are left with an eternal void.

    “I would hope that if the roles were reversed where a Lee County law enforcement officer was killed and the trial was held here, that the people of Calhoun County would serve a life with a life.

    “I appreciate the hard work of DA McVeigh, Chief Assistant DA Hammond and the Calhoun County District Attorney’s Office for serving Justin Sollohub and fighting for his family.”

    Sollohub’s mother, Jeniffer Morris, said she took solace in knowing that it was over.

    “The jury made a decision and we are absolutely fine with the decision the jury made,” Morris said. “Of course we were hoping for a little different outcome, but we’re fine with the outcome we have.”

    Asked how she felt about the back-and-forth nature of the case, Morris said “That part of it is very hard, but with the decision the jury made — it’s over,” Morris said.

    “There is not a decision the jury could have made that could have brought Justin back. We’re going forth like we have for the last 11 years,” Morris said.

    Morris said that she felt the District Attorney’s office had done their best, and that she and the family had had great support throughout the entire ordeal.

    The district attorney, Brian McVeigh, has been on the case ever since it entered the system in 2011.

    “I believe this should give closure to the family. I respect the jury’s decision,” McVeigh said.

    Defense attorney Michael Pylant said he and his co-counsel became involved in the 11-year-old case “late in the game,” but they were thankful to be a part of it.

    “We know this has been a very long road for everyone involved. And for a lot of families in Anniston and in Calhoun County, we are glad that this matter has concluded. And to the extent that we had any hand in it, we’re thankful for that,” Pylant said.

    Russell will remain in Calhoun County jail for about a month; at which time he will be transported to a more permanent state penitentiary, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade.

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/09/man-...-sollohub.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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