Former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine, accused of murdering his paramour two years earlier, asked that his retrial be moved elsewhere, contending that the flood of publicity surrounding the case had made it impossible to seat an impartial jury in Baldwin County.
The motion
Nodine’s motion argued that some 17,400 articles had been published in connection with Nodine and the alleged murder of Angel Downs, who was found dead at her Gulf Shores townhouse on Mother’s Day, May 9, 2010. His defense maintained that Downs had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. An earlier trial had ended with a hung jury, reportedly split 9-3 in favor of conviction.
To illustrate the atmosphere it said had taken hold, the defense cited derogatory comments posted in response to online articles, including remarks branding Nodine “a scumbag” deserving death and “a druggie, trashy, woman-abusing murderer.” A trial free of such prejudice, his lawyers argued, could only be held at a remove from Baldwin County and the counties nearby.
Prosecution’s stance
The defense noted that even the prosecution — by then headed by Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon rather than her predecessor, Judy Newcomb — recognized the risk of obtaining a conviction only to see it overturned on appeal because of an overriding atmosphere of prejudice. Should the trial be relocated, Dothan had been mentioned as the most likely site for a second attempt.
A closely watched case
The Nodine case had gripped the region for two years, drawing sustained coverage and fierce public debate. A former county commissioner accused in the death of a woman with whom he had been involved, tried once to a deadlocked jury, made for a saga that few in Mobile and Baldwin counties had failed to follow. The change-of-venue request marked the latest turn as both sides prepared for a second trial, with the question of where it would be held now before the court. For a defendant who argued that the coverage itself had poisoned the well, the motion sought a fresh setting in which, his lawyers contended, his right to due process could be protected.