A years-old DUI case tied to a former Mobile-area football standout returned to Mobile County Circuit Court in mid-January 2015, as attorneys prepared to argue motions that had been filed under seal, keeping their specific contents hidden from public view.
The case involves Nick Fairley, a Williamson High School graduate and former Auburn University defensive lineman who went on to be drafted into the NFL. Fairley was arrested in Mobile in May 2012 after an Alabama State Trooper clocked him traveling at speeds up to 100 mph along Interstate 10 near U.S. 90 in the Tillman’s Corner area, resulting in DUI and reckless driving charges.
Fairley pleaded guilty to both charges later that year and received a six-month suspended jail sentence, a year of probation and a $600 fine. But the case did not end there. At sentencing, a dispute arose between the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office and Fairley’s defense team over whether prosecutors had agreed to let him enter a pretrial diversion program that could have kept the convictions off his record. Prosecutors argued Fairley was ineligible because of a separate marijuana possession charge from earlier in 2012, even though that charge was later dismissed. Program eligibility rules generally require a clean record, and Fairley was ultimately denied entry.
Fairley appealed the ruling, hoping to still be admitted to the diversion program and have the case resolved without a permanent conviction. He rejected a plea offer from the District Attorney’s Office in December 2014. That set the stage for the January hearing before Mobile County Circuit Judge Sarah Stewart, where one of Fairley’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case and a separate motion asking the judge to recuse herself, both sealed from public review. Fairley himself was not required to appear for the hearing.
The case has drawn attention in the Mobile area in part because of Fairley’s local roots and football pedigree. After starring at Williamson High School and Auburn, where he helped lead the Tigers to a national championship, Fairley was a first-round NFL draft pick in 2011. His professional team later opted not to exercise a contract option, a decision unrelated to the Mobile legal proceedings but one that kept his name in the news at the same time his years-old DUI case was still winding through the local court system.
The continued court wrangling illustrates how a single traffic stop in Tillman’s Corner nearly three years earlier could still generate legal motions and hearings, underscoring the sometimes lengthy path Mobile County cases take from arrest to final resolution.