Al from Dadeville’s second attorney requests to be removed from the case, citing a conflict of interest.
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UPDATE: Lawyer #3 appointed.
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UPDATE #2: Another one bites the dust. (h/t Doug in the comments)
Best of all is the reason.
Blevins, in court papers, said he asked to be removed because an “irreconcilable conflict arose” between he and Updyke.
Most are probably going to cite that as simply differences in school loyalties, but I’m holding out for the two having a serious disagreement over the level of Updyke’s brain power. It’s the romantic in me, I suppose.
Get The Picture 
re trees with lawyers: Considering our school is in a town that recognizes(-ish) arboreal rights to property, inheritance, and (perhaps) self-determination, we can’t safely mock someone else’s recognition of a tree’s right to counsel, I guess.
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However, we should keep restricting a tree’s right to marry.
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An elm recently called my office saying he was in love with a birch. Couldn’t marry. Something about Dutch Elm Disease and it being passed on to saplings.
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There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees…
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Good luck in finding a lawyer in Alabama who doesn’t have a tie to either school.
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Eventually, Dadeville Al will find someone who doesn’t mind getting a bit of press, and who will wisely counsel him to plead insanity. Either that or try the figuratively-battered Bama fan syndrome.
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Clay Travis has offered his services pro bono a couple of times since Updyke got arrested. If that came to pass, I’d have no choice but to take a sabbatical from my job to cover the trial. I’d write the In Cold Blood of tree murder.
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I suspect someone is already headed down that road.
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Conflict, schmonflict. Al sounds like a non-paying, or barely paying client, and it would kill someone’s business for a few years to be known as Al’s lawyer.
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Judging from the death threats, that’s not all it might kill.
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Maybe I ought to cut the local bar a little more slack. Change of venue might be in order.
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I find it hard to believe the death threats completely, but whoever gets the case is going to get annoying phone calls out the wazoo.
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You are right about the venue change HB. That should be the very first motion filed and it would be error not to grant it.
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I completely believe there were death threats. This is the same place where some moron actually decided to go kill a bunch of trees in retaliation for some perceived slight…..then actually called in a talk show and bragged about it. Wasn’t he a state patrolman at one time or another? If he had ever caught me I would sooooo be calling my lawyer to get the case reviewed.
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They’re not real happy when they lose to LSU either.
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/122631213873770.xml&coll=3
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If Al keeps running through lawyers, he’ll have to get one of you Georgia boys pro hac vice
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I smell a John Grisham story…young lawyer in Dadeville…takes the case pro bono…explains the concept of pro bono to his client….harassed by Milton McGregor’s henchman…becomes star crossed lover of Bobby Lowder’s daughter.
This is Gold Jerry!
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I can see the defendant now, goaded into an admission over the objections of his attorney:
“Yes they deserve to die and I hope they burn in a fireplace!”
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With Terry Bowden in a product placement cameo holding an Ovaltine container.
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Too bad Al ain’t black, the NAALCP could send a squad down there in a NY minute.
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Eh…Jesse’s too busy solving the Wisconsin crisis right now anyway…
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Good for Jesse. Somebody needs to stand up to the Koch Brothers.
http://instaputz.blogspot.com/2011/02/when-hallmark-card-wont-suffice.html
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Whatever side of the political spectrum you populate, I think you have to admit what Ol’ Jesse has done over the last couple of decades has been more in the “holding up” category as opposed to “standing up”.
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Yep.
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Classy, adding that “L.”
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It stands for Liberal, their views certainly don’t mesh with guys like Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain, J.C. Watts, and Thomas Sowell who were also black guys the last time I checked.
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I just had a thought. Why don’t we send those dead trees to a paper mill in Georgia (Alabama may not have the technology yet) and have them make toilet paper out of them. The original purpose of the trees is to accept the application of toilet paper anyway. It would be a very useful product for AU to sell and AU would probably be surprised at the support it would receive throughout the SEC. The money the university receives would go a long way to paying their lawyers. Whatcha think?
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Alabama’s got that technology http://www.cpbis.gatech.edu/data/mills-online?state=Alabama thanks to the support of Plumbers and Steamfitters’ Local Unions, among others, that enable those paper mills to produce those silky soft 2-plys and 4-plys.
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They are not short growth pines. Not quite Charmin material. Maybe as an export….USSR?
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If this is the same Jerry Blevins referred to in the “Lawyer #3” link, guess what — he went to Auburn, too.
Maybe they can get Mark Geragos on this thing? I think he went to Loyola…
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Aaaaand there we go.
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Awesome.
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If only Johnnie were still around. He did go to Loyola.
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Al did the state of Alabama a great deed. He saved a lot of money and energy by spiking those trees. Think of all the trees saved because the Auburn faithful have no trees to “roll” and that paper will save countless trees. Not counting the energy expended in procurement of softwood and hardwood for their by-products.
When it comes to engaging an attorney in Alabama, one has to assume all attorneys in the state of Alabama have a “conflict of interest”. Otherwise, the Newton affair would be on a fast track for resolution.
Mills…like Boise Cascade, Boatwright, Ga-Pacific. If you been to Alabama, Sowega, and etc…well it is litered with timber and mills.
Corn farmers are rejoicing. The WSJ and others will now report…for every ten rows of corn…four for ethanol, five for food and feed, and one for Auburn toiletry purposes. With regard to the latter, Auburn students and alums can get a discount at their local grainery. Yes, Al, you did good bubba or willie or whatever, corn futures spiked with you!
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really, they should give him some kind of civic medal, perhaps even recognize him as an environmental hero. Think of all the carbon credits he’s racking up by preventing all that toilet paper from ending up in those two trees. He’s a saint, really. Look at the big picture, people.
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LMAO.
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this new dude went to AU for his BD
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So can’t they just truck down from NY some some al-qaeda defense lawyer?
I guess those guys wouldn’t even touch this…
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+1 They are not afraid of the Feds but the Auburn grads scare the heck out of them.
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My Cousin Vinnie would take this case.
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Shoot, if Al’s got the dough he oughta call Bobby Lee Cook. Bobby Lee’s from the TAG area of Georgia so if he’s got any favoritism, it wouldn’t be for Auburn.
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BLC is from my neck of the woods in NW GA, but I’m not sure he’s even still around. I swear I thought I heard he passed, but I’m not certain.
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Bobby Lee went to Harvard. I’m pretty sure Auburn is a place of no consequence to him. He’s still alive and practicing, but even if he was dead, his corpse would probably be smarter than 99% of the lawyers currently practicing in Alabama, especially the ones who went to undergrad at the Barn.
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BLC is still alive and still practicing. Ran into him a few months ago.
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So, trees have Lawyers? I guess the next time we thin our planted pines the trees will file a class action suit. Maybe they sue over working conditions. They never get a day off and they have to stay on their feet[roots?] night and day.
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On top of that, they’ll needle you too.
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Groan
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This Squirrel-Eater Soap Opera has now officially reached farce level. Carl Hiaasen wouldn’t write a novel with this level of insanity because he would think it’s too over the top.
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I don’t really care how the situation with Updyke’s attorney pans out. I just hope that counsel for the state decides to open with a line from “The Lorax.”
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This case would be alot of fun to try. All you need is one hard-core bama fan on the jury and they’ll never get a conviction. Plus, if Al shuts his mouth now, you could have a ton of defenses. (Prove it was me on the phone, prove that I wasn’t prank calling, I heard some guys talking about it at a bar, thought it was BS but thought it would be funny to say it on Finebaum, etc.)
Come on, the dude killed a couple of trees. The proper punishment is that he is forced to deface Bear’s statue, or, if he refuses, forced to attend every Vandy game for the rest of his life wearing black and gold.
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I think the charge is “Malicious Destruction of Property.” Is that even a felony?
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In GA it would likely depend on value of the property as to whether felony or misdemeanor. Not sure about AL.
Since the Auburn people seem to think criminal prosecution is proper for damaging vegetation important to football tradition, I’m for prosecuting any Auburn fan, player, or coach that damages the hedges in any manner.
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+1.
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There is always the “I didn’t know” defense.
It worked for Auburn and Ohio State.
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That’s the night that the lights went out in Bama…………
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The UGA Tree that owns itself. (more or less)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_That_Owns_Itself
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