Mediaboss Marketing

A Somerville man who admitted to killing a Hartselle man two years ago will cite the states stand your ground law when he asks a Morgan County judge today to dismiss the murder charge against him.

Gregory Bryan Crow, 29, and his attorneys will be in Morgan County Circuit Court Judge Steven Haddocks courtroom for Haddock to decide whether to dismiss the charge against Crow in the shooting death of Chad Lorance. The hearing begins at 9 a.m.

Griff Belser, who is Crows attorney, said in a motion seeking the hearing that Crow admits to killing Lorance, 32, at the Somerville home of Crows mother.

However, the defendant did so standing in his mothers driveway, and having been assaulted by the victim, Belser wrote in the motion.

Belser declined to comment before todays hearing.

Authorities said at the time of the shooting that Crow and Lorance had been longtime friends who were in an argument outside Crows mothers home.

The defendant contends that he acted in self-defense, as was his right under this statute, Belser said in the motion.

Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson said Thursday that prosecutors will concentrate on the facts that led to the shooting and the charges filed against Crow.

The court will determine whether the defendant proved that he had a legal right to stand his ground, Anderson said.

The stand your ground law adopted in 2006 says a person may use deadly force in self-defense or the defense of another person if the person reasonably believes that another person is committing or is about to commit first- or second-degree assault.

Attorney Jim Smith successfully used the stand your ground defense two years ago when a Morgan County jury took two hours to acquit Steve Childers of manslaughter.

Childers had shot and killed Jeremy Lorance, 35, while the two were in the driveway of Childers home in Priceville. Jeremy Lorance was the brother of Chad Lorance.

Smith said Wednesday that Crows defense will have to prove the elements of the law to have the charge dismissed.

If he was in a place where he could legally be and felt threatened, he has the right to protect himself and members of his family, Smith said.

Smith said its not as clear who was the aggressor in Crows case as it was when Childers shot Jeremy Lorance.

Prosecutors will want to submit evidence showing Crow was the aggressor, not Chad Lorance, Smith said.

Who was the aggressor is one factor that the court will take into consideration, Anderson said.

Haddock also held a pretrial hearing in 2015 on Smiths motion to dismiss the manslaughter charge against Childers based on the stand your ground law.

Haddock declined to dismiss the charge on procedural grounds. His ruling said the states higher courts had not given lower courts any procedural guidance for such a hearing, including what burden of proof was required by the state and the defense.

Haddocks ruling also said that for many decades and perhaps longer a jury has decided whether a defendant acted in self-defense in reaching a verdict.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals since has ruled that a defendant has a right to an evidentiary hearing in regards to a stand your ground defense and issued procedures for a hearing.

Crow is in Morgan County Jail with no bail. He was out of jail on $75,000 bail, but Haddock ordered him back to jail without bail in May after Crow was arrested for violating a protection order issued for his former wife.

Crows trial is set for March 6. His case is on a settlement docket scheduled for Thursday.

Continued here:
Somerville man wants murder charge dropped on 'stand your ... - The Decatur Daily