DOCUMENT 7

ELECTRONICALLY FILED
1/7/2020 4:57 PM
44-CC-2019-000729.00
CIRCUIT COURT OF
LIMESTONE COUNTY, ALABAMA
BRAD CURNUTT, CLERK
IN THE 39th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT FOR THE STATE OF ALABAMA
LIMESTONE COUNTY

STATE OF ALABAMA, )
)
v. ) CASE NO. CC-2019-0729
)
DOUGLAS LEE PATTERSON, )
)
Defendant. )
)

State’s Motion to Set Arraignment and Enter a Scheduling Order

The State hereby moves this Court to set a date for the arraignment of

Defendant Douglas Lee Patterson on the indictment issued by the Limestone

County Special Grand Jury. The State also requests that this Court enter a

scheduling order setting forth appropriate deadlines and a trial date. In support of

this motion, the State offers the following:

1. A Limestone County Special Grand Jury indicted Defendant Douglas

Lee Patterson on December 11 on three charges: use of official position or office

for personal gain; financial exploitation of the elderly in the first degree; and theft

of property in the third degree.

2. The State attempted pre-arraignment negotiations in this case, but the

State was not successful. Accordingly, the State submits that there is no reason for

delay and an arraignment should be set at the earliest convenient date for the Court.
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3. The State proposes that the parties be prepared at arraignment to

discuss a scheduling order that would set forth discovery deadlines, any necessary

pre-trial deadlines, and a date certain for a trial in this case.

4. The State’s position will be that a trial should commence at the

earliest practicable date for two reasons. First, while every criminal case is

important, the charges in this case raise serious questions as to whether the

Defendant flagrantly abused his position as a lawyer and a public official. The

Limestone County public deserves to know whether one of its local public officials

is guilty or innocent of the charges returned by the grand jury. Second, while the

Defendant is suspended from serving as a judge, he continues to receive his salary

unless and until he is convicted or resigns. At the same time, the other judges in

Limestone County have had to work extra to ensure that important court business

proceeds as usual while one of its members is suspended.

5. For these reasons, if the Defendant is innocent of these charges, then

his name should be cleared as soon as possible. Likewise, if the Defendant is guilty

of these charges, then he should be formally removed as a judge and stripped of all

benefits, including his salary. Accordingly, the State asks this Court to set an

arraignment date and enter a scheduling order that includes a date certain for a trial

to resolve the serious criminal charges implicated in this case.

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Respectfully submitted this 7th day of January, 2020.

Steve Marshall
Attorney General

s/ Kyle Beckman
Kyle Beckman
Assistant Attorney General

STATE OF ALABAMA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
501 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7300

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on January 7, 2020, I electronically filed the foregoing using

the AlaFile system, which will send notification of such filing to the following
registered persons, and that any person not registered with the AlaFile system was
served a copy of the foregoing via email:

Douglas Lee Patterson c/o Dan Totten

/ Kyle Beckman
Assistant Attorney General

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