Albert Turner Jr.
Before leaving office earlier this year, two Alabama public officials decided it would be a good idea to bring voter-fraud charges against a county commissioner in rural Perry County. The officials -- Secretary of State John Merrill and Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson (who presides over multiple counties) -- might come to regret that decision, according to a post at DonaldWatkins.com.
That's because the charges against County Commissioner Albert Turner Jr. were so weak, and apparently gave off such a powerful odor of political motivations, that they barely got off the ground before a judge dismissed them earlier this week. As often is the case in Alabama, race is part of the story, so perhaps we should provide a scorecard on that issue: Albert Turner Jr. and Michael Jackson are black, and John Merrill is white. As for political affiliation, Turner and Jackson are Democrats, and Merrill is a Republican.
Are relations between these parties on a chummy level? Not exactly. Consider this headline on an al.com article about the Turner indictment: Perry County commissioner indicted on voter fraud calls prosecutor a ‘buffoon,’ Merrill a ‘womanizer’
Yikes! This is getting down and dirty. It also gets juicy. That's because the allegation of Merrill as a "womanizer" appears to be true -- based on his own words and on numerous published reports (including roughly a dozen posts here at Legal Schnauzer) about at least two episodes of "zipper eruptions."
Merrill's first bout with zipper issues involved a Tuscaloosa woman named Millie Brinyark. That story provided the darnedest headline in my 30-plus years as a journalist. Here it is: Alabama Sec. of State Merrill admits to extramarital sexual encounter but denies receiving oral sex. No kidding, that's a real headline, and the basics of the story came straight from court records and interviews Merrill gave to friendly news outlets.
For the record, we broke the Merrill-Brinyark story after al.com sat on it, apparently fearful of writing about a white Republican's tendency to be a naughty boy.
Merrill's second bout of zipper issues involved a Montgomery woman named Cesaire McPherson. The McPherson story makes the Brinyark saga read like "The Children's Story Hour." It includes descriptions of Merrill's fondness for butt plugs and other sex toys that can involve the anus. And . . . well, we'll leave it at that; you get the idea. And this is a guy who, at the time the story broke, was planning a run for the U.S. Senate. The butt-plug angle might have caused Merrill to pull the plug on a U.S. Senate run, at least in 2022.
Merrill has hinted at future political ambitions, even stating that he needs to be in federal office to "help save the Republic." Again, I'm not joking.
Thanks to our friends at banbalch.com, we know Merrill has been loosely connected to an environment-related scandal in Ohio, acting on behalf of his benefactors at Alabama Power -- which, of course, is in the middle of a burgeoning accounting-fraud scandal at Southern Company, a hot mess that carries all kinds of potential legal (criminal and civil) implications. John Merrill just can't seem to stay away from trouble.
We've established that the allegation John Merrill is a "womanizer" is based in reality, so let's turn our attention to the allegation that Michael Jackson is a "buffoon." We don't know about that one, but consider this from an al.com story on the Albert Turner Jr. indictment:
Turner’s first cousin in May defeated Jackson, who has been district attorney since 2004.
Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Turner’s response to the indictments.
In his Facebook response, Turner wrote that he and Jackson have a long history dating back to Jackson’s first election. . . .
In Jackson’s third bid for re-election, Turner wrote, he and Attorney Rose Sanders “raised the heat up on the Jackson administration and his treatment of victims.”
“Now in 2022, Turner had weakened Jackson’s image and the lure of defeat was within reach,’’ Turner wrote. “Turner’s first cousin, Robert Jr., had the clean-cut intelligence to make Jackson look like the buffoon he had displayed on TV over the last six years.”
“Robert, Jr. would have the name recognition, intelligence, and money to run a creditable campaign to defeat a three-term incumbent like Jackson,’’ Turner wrote.
Turner said he and his political organization worked overtime to defeat Jackson.
“Robert Jr. defeated Jackson in every county except Dallas, however, the margin was not enough to overcome the massacre Jackson would receive in Perry County,’’ Turner wrote. “Robert Jr. defeated Jackson with 80% of the vote in Perry County and thus we are here today.”
Turner called Jackson’s allegations bogus. He said the ballot boxes were indeed stuffed, but by voters, not him.
In short, Albert Turner Jr. says he believes he was indicted because he helped his cousin, Robert Turner Jr., beat DA Michael Jackson in an election. If that is proven to be true, Michael Jackson might have serious legal problems on his hands. If it's proven John Merrill encouraged Jackson to take such action, Merrill could have serious legal problems on his hands.
Prosecutors of all stripes (district attorneys, U.S. attorneys, etc.) generally are protected from suit by prosecutorial immunity. As a state officer, Merrill might be able to claim some kind of sovereign, or state, immunity. But if Jackson and Merrill conspired to indict Albert Turner Jr. simply for helping his cousin win an election, they could be hit with civil claims for malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
Donald Watkins provides important background on the political and legal implications behind the Turner indictment. Writes Watkins, under the headline "Bogus Voter Fraud Case Against Albert Turner, Jr. Dismissed":
On April 6, 2023, bogus voter fraud charges against Perry County, Alabama Commission Chairman Albert Turner, Jr., were dismissed by a state-court judge.
Former Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson and former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill sought and obtained an out-the-door Indictment of Turner on voter-fraud charges as they were leaving office in early January of 2023.
Turner mobilized the effort to defeat Jackson. Merrill left office because he reached the term limits for his statewide office.
The faulty Indictment violated multiple provisions of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure and state statutes on grand-jury proceedings. The Indictment also lacked an evidentiary foundation.
The Indictment was the product of impermissible political "targeting"of a strong, outspoken political adversary.
Is this sort of thing unusual in Alabama? Unfortunately, no, writes Watkins:
In Alabama, they call this type of Indictment a "drive-by" political shooting. It was a desperate act by two political buffoons to tarnish Turner's name and his family's legacy in the Black Belt region of Alabama and around the nation.
Chairman Turner was never arrested, fingerprinted, arraigned, or had a mug shot taken. Additionally, Turner did not appear at the motion hearing held before Perry County Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins on the Attorney General's request to dismiss the case.
Persecuting Members of the Turner Family is a Favorite Alabama Pastime
Turner's parents, who are highly regarded civil rights icons in America, were subjected to the same kind of buffoonery by former U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions in 1986. They, too, were cleared of bogus voter-fraud charges.
Like his parents, Albert Turner, Jr., does more in a single day to serve, advance, and protect the constitutional and civil rights and political interests of Perry County residents than Michael Jackson and John Merrill have done in a lifetime.
For the record, I have always stood with Albert Turner, Jr., in this matter, without hesitation or reservation. I am a full-fledged member of Team Turner. I never run from a fight and never abandon a friend.
How weak were the charges against Albert Turner? Watkins provides the answer:
At the hearing on April 6, 2023, the state of Alabama conceded in open court that there was no evidence of voter fraud by Albert Turner, Jr. With this concession, Judge Marvin Wiggins entered an Order dismissing the case.
Albert Turner, Jr., issued this statement after the case was dismissed:
"Let it be known that no prosecutor should use their office for a political vendetta. My children were upset, and my 86-year-old mother suffered anxiety attacks after hearing that her son would have to face what she, her husband Albert Sr., and Spencer Hogue went through as a defendant in 1986. I don't care if it's me, Donald Watkins, or Donald Trump; a prosecutor should not target individuals because of politics. Michael Jackson and John Merrill will pay for this!"
Now that the criminal case is over, Turner will pursue a civil case against Michael Jackson and John Merrill for malicious prosecution and abuse of the legal process.
Epilogue
I encourage Chairman Albert Turner Jr. to continue waging his unrelenting fight to elevate the quality of life for the residents of Perry County, with all deliberate speed and by using all lawful means at his disposal.
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