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Thomas (President of the Mobile Co. School Board) among those indicted by Grand Jury
The Mobile Register ^ | 6/18/2005 | Gary McElroy

Posted on 06/18/2005 4:35:31 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691

Thomas among those indicted by grand jury Saturday, June 18, 2005 By GARY McELROY Staff Reporter Mobile County school board president David Thomas was among those indicted Friday by the county's June grand jury.

His was among 300 other indictments grand jurors handed down after considering more than 400 cases.

Thomas was indicted for leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and driving under the influence of alcohol.

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The indictments stemmed from an incident during Mardi Gras earlier this year in which Thomas allegedly drove his vehicle over the foot of a 8-year-old paradegoer, then left the scene.

Earlier this week, Thomas, 37, was found guilty in Mobile Municipal Court of another case alleging he left the scene of an accident last summer.

The jury also announced that following its investigations into the deaths of two men killed by police last year, it found "no criminal liability on the part of the officers" in the shooting of Wayne Stewart, 41, or Clarence Savage, 24.

According to reports, Stewart was killed by officers in a west Mobile supermarket parking lot in March 2004.

Savage, according to reports, died after firing at police officers as he emerged from a home being burglarized in April 2004.

As it does each month when in session, the grand jury reported on conditions at the Mobile County Metro Jail, noting it was housing 986 inmates in a facility designed to hold 816. A nearby misdemeanor facility designed for 325 was at near capacity, jurors reported.

In its 54-page report, filled with theft and drug cases, the grand jury also issued several murder indictments, including those against:

Andre Deon Jones, 19, accused in the July 2004 shooting death of Deandre Delandra Harris, 29.

Kelvin Law, 40, accused of killing his common-law wife, Savannah Taylor, 55, in August 2004.

Brian Jordan Martin, 20, of Citronelle, accused of shooting his common-law wife Jessica Odom, 21, and killing her in late November 2004.

Joseph Andrew Salter, 20, charged with murder in a fatal car crash in October 2004 that killed 21-year-old Lanaka Lucas.

According to reports, Salter was fleeing police, who had responded to a domestic disturbance call. In addition to murder, grand jurors indicted Salter on charges of domestic violence, criminal mischief, attempting to elude police and leaving the scene of an accident, among others alleged offenses.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: alabama; biggestinstate; dui; felons; hitandrun; mardigras; mcpss; mobile; onewaystreet; schoolboard
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Unfortunately, I live in his district.
1 posted on 06/18/2005 4:35:35 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691
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To: AzaleaCity5691

So Andre Deon shot Deandre Delandra...dead.


2 posted on 06/18/2005 4:39:28 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: AzaleaCity5691

Slightly confuse article...


3 posted on 06/18/2005 4:40:24 PM PDT by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: derheimwill
Slightly confuse article...

Very poorly written article might be a little closer.

4 posted on 06/18/2005 4:44:52 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

Not really, the paper just decided to put all the announcements in one short article.

The only large paper that they put out is the Sunday paper, which is about as thick as the daily addition of the NYT.


5 posted on 06/18/2005 4:47:12 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (If you want Siegelman to win a 2nd term, by all means, vote for Roy Moore in the primary)
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To: AzaleaCity5691
As it does each month when in session, the grand jury reported on conditions at the Mobile County Metro Jail, noting it was housing 986 inmates in a facility designed to hold 816.

I'm ashamed to say, but in my misspent youth I spent a couple nights in the Mobile county jail drunk tank. Terrible coffee....
6 posted on 06/18/2005 4:52:41 PM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: AzaleaCity5691

One key, and missing, fact is where the incident occurred. Was he driving in the parade when he ran over the foot of the victim who was standing in the street, or did it happen on a public street away from the parade itself?


7 posted on 06/18/2005 5:02:42 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: AzaleaCity5691

The jury also announced that following its investigations into the deaths of two men killed by police last year, it found "no criminal liability on the part of the officers" in the shooting of Wayne Stewart, 41, or Clarence Savage, 24.

According to reports, Stewart was killed by officers in a west Mobile supermarket parking lot in March 2004.

Savage, according to reports, died after firing at police officers as he emerged from a home being burglarized in April 2004.
---

Why would it even be considered that the officers have criminal wrongdoing when the suspect emerged 'firing at police'?!?


8 posted on 06/18/2005 5:04:57 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/canadahealthcare.htm)
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To: PAR35

Well, this is a local story, so we all kind of knew where it happened.

He was driving the wrong way during a one-way street, drunk apparently, having left a Mardi Gras party (could have been the official MAMGA ball)

He actually was a MAMGA king when he was younger.


9 posted on 06/18/2005 5:05:55 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (If you want Siegelman to win a 2nd term, by all means, vote for Roy Moore in the primary)
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To: AzaleaCity5691

Thanks. Now that is the kind of information that would let a reader what was going on. I was willing to presume him innocent except for the fact that he has a prior conviction for this sort of thing, but the story was lacking.

From the story I know more about the fellow who killed someone while running from the cops than I do about the lead indictee.


10 posted on 06/18/2005 5:11:16 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: AzaleaCity5691
Andre Deon Jones, 19, accused in the July 2004 shooting death of Deandre Delandra Harris, 29. Kelvin Law, 40, accused of killing his common-law wife, Savannah Taylor, 55, in August 2004. Brian Jordan Martin, 20, of Citronelle, accused of shooting his common-law wife Jessica Odom, 21, and killing her in late November 2004. Joseph Andrew Salter, 20, charged with murder in a fatal car crash in October 2004 that killed 21-year-old Lanaka Lucas.

When I tell people I grew up in Mobile, they think of a sleepy southern town with dirt roads. I've lived in several bigger cities since leaving Mobile, and well meaning people have tried to warn me (thinking I'm a naive bumpkin from a quiet town) of how to avoid crime in the big city. They have no idea that Mobile (if you factor the crime per capita rate) is one of the roughest cities in the nation...
11 posted on 06/18/2005 5:11:53 PM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: Welsh Rabbit

It's a lot safer today then it was in the 70's.

I can't honestly remember the last year that Mobile had more than 50 murders in the city proper, whereas 20 years ago, you couldn't remember when we had less than 50, same circumstances.


12 posted on 06/18/2005 5:14:43 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (If you want Siegelman to win a 2nd term, by all means, vote for Roy Moore in the primary)
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To: PAR35

This guy is danger on the roads, google "Mobile County school board president David Thomas" for more...


http://www.al.com/opinion/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1118913576288960.xml&coll=3

Answer questions on school-related topics
Thursday, June 16, 2005

Mobile County school board President David Thomas is under no obligation to discuss his legal troubles publicly, but school board business is another matter.

Mr. Thomas was charged with drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident (a felony), after running over the foot of an 8-year-old girl as he was leaving a Mardi Gras parade in February. He was convicted in Mobile Municipal Court this week on an unrelated misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident last summer.

It's at least understandable that he won't talk to the Mobile Register about the criminal cases. But he won't talk to the Register about anything else, either.


And that's a problem -- not just for the newspaper, but for the public.

Mr. Thomas could have resigned as president of the school board or even left the school board altogether in order to deal with the charges against him. He chose not to, yet he's ducking his duty to keep the public informed about school board business.

In recent weeks, Mr. Thomas has consistently failed to respond to multiple questions from the Register about school board matters.

He does not return phone messages left on his voice mail and with his secretary at Bishop State Community College, where he works, even though the phone messages note that the questions relate strictly to the school board. When confronted directly by a Register reporter asking a question, he walks away. On several occasions, he has gone out of his way to avoid a reporter.

The Register editorial board does not report this simply to complain that a public official won't talk to the newspaper. Rather, it is the public who is shortchanged when the president of the state's largest public school system refuses to answer legitimate questions about school board business.

For example, exactly what's happening with the performing arts high school?

Mr. Thomas promoted the school board's purchase of the Gayfers building downtown for a performing arts high school -- a deal that quickly proved unwise. Then the board and administrators looked into buying new offices for its central office staff and converting historic Barton Academy to an arts school.

Last month, the system's facilities director said all the pieces of property under consideration for the central office were no longer available and that a new building might be needed for a lot more money than planned. Meanwhile, some other school board members say they've heard that the arts school might not happen.

But because school board members have too much direct control over projects in their own districts, the fate of the arts school comes down to what Mr. Thomas wants to do about it. And he's not saying.

Mr. Thomas was elected by the people in his school board district, and he was elected school board president by his peers. His duty to his constituents overrides any personal problems he may be having.

Answering questions, from newspaper reporters or anyone else, is an important part of that duty. The Register editorial board previously has called on Mr. Thomas to step down, and we renew that call in light of this evidence that he is unable or unwilling to carry out his responsibilities as an elected official.



http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050614/APN/506140960

Mobile school board president gets probation in accident case

The Associated Press
June 14. 2005 3:38PM


# Email this story.
# Print this story.


Mobile County school board President David Thomas has been convicted of leaving the scene of a July accident in which his Land Rover collided with a pickup truck. He was given probation on the misdemeanor.

Mobile Municipal Judge John Coleman sentenced Thomas, 37, to 30 days in jail Monday but suspended that jail time and imposed a year's probation, including mandatory drug and alcohol testing. He also fined Thomas $250, plus $105 in court costs.

His attorney said the conviction will be appealed to circuit court.

The guilty verdict on the misdemeanor charge does not affect Thomas' tenure on the five-member school board. Two other traffic violations are pending against Thomas - driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a Mardi Gras Day accident during which police said he drove over a girl's foot. The DUI charge is a misdemeanor while the leaving-the-scene charge is a felony because of the alleged injury.


13 posted on 06/18/2005 6:14:54 PM PDT by SamFromLivingston
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To: AzaleaCity5691

He actually was a MAMGA king when he was younger.

Did he Lava that?


14 posted on 06/18/2005 6:26:15 PM PDT by moog
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To: Welsh Rabbit

When I tell people I grew up in Mobile, they think of a sleepy southern town with dirt roads. I've lived in several bigger cities since leaving Mobile, and well meaning people have tried to warn me (thinking I'm a naive bumpkin from a quiet town) of how to avoid crime in the big city. They have no idea that Mobile (if you factor the crime per capita rate) is one of the roughest cities in the nation...

It's all in the song...I've come from Alabama.....


15 posted on 06/18/2005 6:27:51 PM PDT by moog
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To: moog

Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association, it's a black carnival group, which many of our black politicians have belonged to, including Clinton's Labor Secretary, who was Queen back in the late 60's


16 posted on 06/18/2005 6:29:22 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (If you want Siegelman to win a 2nd term, by all means, vote for Roy Moore in the primary)
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To: AzaleaCity5691

Clinton's Labor Secretary, who was Queen back in the late 60's.

Nowadays, this sentence can have more than one meaning. That's sad...


17 posted on 06/18/2005 6:31:12 PM PDT by moog
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To: moog

So are you a Mobilian or a former Mobilian?


18 posted on 06/18/2005 6:36:50 PM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: moog

Nevermind. I get it now, you were being clever...


19 posted on 06/18/2005 6:43:43 PM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: Welsh Rabbit

So are you a Mobilian or a former Mobilian?

Neither. In fact, I've never been to Alabama. I just happened to know that Mobile was a good-sized and dangerous city (though I'm sure there are indeed good parts about it). It happens with other states too. Some people think that Texans are cowboy-hicks, not realizing that there are TONS of big cities there. There are large open areas of New Jersey, it's not all cities. Utah has a concentrated urban population and is not like the Amish locations. Washington is not all wet, forested, and rainy. California does not have beaches in every backyard. Hawaiians speak English like the rest of us. It goes on and on.


20 posted on 06/18/2005 6:46:07 PM PDT by moog
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