Three veteran lawyers tapped as finalists for open judgeship
By Chip Drago
Mobile Bay Times
Three veteran attorneys -- Randy Crane, E.J. Saad and Michael Youngpeter -- were named Friday as the finalists for an open judgeship on the Mobile County circuit court bench.
The judicial selection committee winnowed the list from a field of 11 applicants who sought to replace former Circuit Judge Herman
Thomas. Thomas resigned amid a firestorm of controversy over allegations of ethical breaches in his handling of cases. His conduct, including the paddling of inmates in a private office, remains under investigation.
Gov. Bob Riley will appoint a judge from among the three names.
All three attorneys are more versed in civil than criminal law.
A second judicial vacancy will apparently occur at year's end with Mobile County District Judge Judson Wells' announcement that he intends to return to private practice.
The judicial selection committee set a schedule of dates leading toward filling that slot as follows: Nov. 27 to submit applications; then public comment until Dec.18; selection of finalists Dec. 18 upon the close of public comment.
Other applicants for the circuit vacancy included:
- Angela Cooper, who has previously sought an appointment to the bench;
- Duncan R. Crow, a longtime GOP attorney who lost to Circuit Judge Robert Smith in the Republican primary election to fill the judgeship formerly held by retired Judge Ferrill D. McRae;
- Mark Erwin, an assistant county attorney and chairman of the Mobile County Republican Party;
Many in the legal/political community considered Erwin a strong contender for the robe.
"The list contains three seasoned veterans of the local bar and Mobile County will be well served by any one of them," Erwin stated.
- Karlos Finley, an assistant district attorney and the only black applicant for the seat left open by the resignation of the circuit's only black judge;
- Don Foster, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama during the administrations of ex-President Bill Clinton;
- Walter Honeycutt, another previous judicial hopeful and the GOP nominee against Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson in 2004;
- Brad Kittrell, a Mobile attorney and the son of former Mobile County Presiding Circuit Judge Braxton Kittrell, now retired from the bench and in private practice
- Barney March, another previous judicial applicant and a lawyer with the Johnstone Adams firm;
The five-member judicial selection committee is chaired by Mobile County Presiding Circuit Judge Charlie Graddick.
Ironically, Thomas had been chairman of the judicial selection committee.
Other members of the committee include attorneys Ken Nixon and Billy Bedsole, former Revenue Commissioner Freda Roberts and Sherry Moss.
Suspended since the spring when the JIC undertook its investigation, Thomas stepped down Oct. 1 just as the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission was poised to add on to the existing 30 charges of ethical misconduct against the veteran jurist.
However, state and perhaps federal authorities reportedly continue to investigate Thomas, who stood accused of using his office to favor friends, relatives and the politically-connected as well as poaching cases from the dockets of his fellow judges in order to alter their rulings. Alienated from Thomas, his disgruntled brethren called on the JIC not to privately mediate any resolution with Thomas but to air all the charges in a public trial.
Thomas had been set for trial Oct. 29 before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.
Thomas, 46, will be eligible to begin collecting retirement benefits at 60, according to Marc Reynolds with the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Thomas has a total of 20 years, three months in state service -- 17 years and six months on the bench and two years and nine months as an assistant district attorney. He continued to draw pay and contribute toward his retirement during his suspension.
Whomever is appointed to the opening will have to run in 2008 for election to remaining four years of the six-year term that Thomas won in 2006. Former Democratic Circuit Judge and District Attorney Chris Galanos has previously confirmed his intention to seek a return to the bench.
