Attorneys for two former Bayou La Batre Housing Authority officials facing a civil lawsuit over a multimillion-dollar retirement package are asking a judge to move their trial out of Mobile County, arguing that extensive local media coverage has made it impossible to seat an impartial jury.
In a motion filed on behalf of former executive director and former facilities manager, attorney Scherf argued that “extensive prejudicial pretrial publicity has created a substantial risk that Defendants cannot receive a fair and impartial trial before a Mobile County jury.”
The filing points to coverage from several local and statewide news outlets and claims those outlets were tipped off by a current Housing Authority board member. According to the motion, Johnny Hatcher, the board’s chairman, “distributed a copy of the July 7, 2026, Order to local media and news agencies throughout Mobile County, Alabama” the day after it was issued.
Defense Cites Inflammatory Language
The motion highlights specific phrases used in media reports describing the defendants’ alleged conduct, including “attempted fleecing of public money,” “extravagantly excessive,” “unconscionable and illegal” and “windfall of epic proportions.” The defense argues such language goes beyond neutral reporting.
“These reports have repeated allegations of wrongdoing in language reasonably understood by the general public as expressing conclusions concerning Defendants’ conduct,” the motion states.
The filing also argues that the volume of coverage, combined with its timing so close to trial, has tainted the jury pool. “The sheer volume and nature of the adverse publicity far exceeds routine news coverage,” the motion states, citing newspaper articles, television broadcasts, internet publications, social media posts and public statements from Housing Authority officials as contributing factors.
“Given the nature, timing of the dissemination before trial, and cumulative effect of this publicity, together with the localized public interest surrounding the Bayou La Batre Housing Authority suit, Defendants respectfully submit that the interest of justice requires transfer to another Alabama county where an impartial jury may be selected,” the motion states.
Origins of the Dispute
The underlying lawsuit traces back to a series of contracts approved during the two defendants’ tenure at the helm of the Bayou La Batre Housing Authority, which oversees the 99-unit Safe Harbor housing development. The former executive director was hired in 2013, the same year the former facilities manager resigned from the Housing Authority’s board to take the staff position.
Court records show that over the following seven years, the pair’s pay and benefits were increased repeatedly through contract amendments. Those amendments culminated in 2020 in a combined $4.18 million lump-sum retirement package that the Housing Authority contends would have forced the sale of Safe Harbor, the agency’s only asset.
The Housing Authority’s civil suit, filed in December 2020, accuses the two former officials and several former board members of breaching their fiduciary duties, conspiracy, conversion, negligence, wantonness, waste of corporate assets, misappropriation of corporate assets and unjust enrichment.
The former executive director also faced a separate criminal theft charge connected to flooring material purchased by the Housing Authority. That criminal case was dismissed in September 2024 after the Housing Authority’s board opted not to proceed, choosing instead to pursue the civil litigation.
What Happens Next
A Mobile County judge will now have to weigh the defense’s request to move the trial against the Housing Authority’s interest in keeping the case in the county where the alleged misconduct occurred. Change-of-venue motions in Alabama civil cases require a showing that pretrial publicity has made it genuinely difficult to seat an impartial jury, a threshold courts apply carefully given the public’s right to open judicial proceedings.
The Bayou La Batre Housing Authority, a public agency, is responsible for administering federally subsidized housing in the coastal Mobile County community, including the Safe Harbor development at the center of the dispute.