A federal jury here took about an hour Tuesday to convict a Neo-Nazi murder suspect of a host of firearms charges and a drug offence.
Daniel Dwight Brown, a self-avowed member of the Aryan Brotherhood, faces at least 15 years in prison on the federal charges. He also has a pending murder charge in Mobile County.
His attorney, Bill Scully, said his client will fight the federal conviction.
“I’m disappointed in the verdict,” he said. “My client steadfastly maintains his innocence, and he will do whatever he can to appeal the verdict.”
Mobile police officers investigating a shooting death in on March 11 found a pair of 9mm pistols in a Dumpster outside a bar on Swedetown Road in Theodore. Authorities contended that those guns potentially were used in the shooting of James Huddleston III, whose body was found on Rabbit Creek Road just north of Hamilton Boulevard.
An acquaintance of the defendant, Gary Paul Schreiner, testified that he knew the guns belonged to Brown.
Investigators also got a search warrant for Brown’s home and found a pair of active methamphetamine labs, a .22-caliber pistol and ammunition on March 18, according to testimony.
Brown, 40, was convicted in 2006 of third-degree escape, making it illegal for him to have firearms.
During his testimony, Schreiner told jurors and he, Brown and their girlfriends did drugs together. Schreiner also testified that he joined a white pride group in prison called Southern Brotherhood and bristled at suggestions by Scully that it was akin to the Aryan Brotherhood.
“We’re not racist,” Schreiner said. “They’re racist.”
Schreiner testified that members of the Southern Brotherhood merely are proud of their race. In a recorded interview with Mobile police homicide detective Mac R. “Rusty” Hardeman, Schreiner called the Aryan Brotherhood “ugly, hateful a-- people.”
The jury found Brown guilty of 3 counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of possession of ammunition by a felon. The panel also convicted him of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, which carries a 10-year mandatory-minimum prison sentence. The 6th charge he was convicted of, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, carries a 5-year sentence that must be served consecutively.
Scully said he would try to persuade U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose to run the prison time from the other gun charges simultaneous to the other charges.
“There’s going to be an issue, probably, if they’re going to be stacked,” he said.
AL.com
Thursday, 18 August 2011
March by far-right set to go ahead in capital despite ban demands (UK)
A controversial far-right group is set to win permission to stage a demo in Edinburgh after police chiefs said they had no objections to the Scottish Defence League being allowed to stage a parade - despite protests from politicians, trade unions and anti-racism organisations.
The group wants to march from near the American Embassy to the east end of Princes Street the day before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Critics believe the group has deliberately chosen the date to inflame racial hatred and capitalise on recent publicity linking its sister group, the English Defence League, with Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik.
The SDL has given Edinburgh City Council, which will rule on the application tomorrow, "freedom of speech" as the main reason for holding the event, which it expects to attract around 200 supporters.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill wants the protest banned, claiming the group is known to espouse "both racist and homophobic views" and expressing concern the march could pose a threat to public safety.
Local MSPS are also among those against the application.
Lothian and Borders Police has warned the local authority to consider the group's proposed demo "in the context" of the recent riots that flared across several English cities.
But it has effectively given the green light to the march, which will include a rally beside the statue of the Duke of Wellington, despite admitting the group's views are "controversial" and that a sizeable "opposition rally" is likely to be held.
Superintendent David Carradice has told the council he is confident the force can handle a demo by the SDL and any planned counter-demonstration, insisting it is used to catering for groups that want to "exercise their right to protest".
He said: "Whilst there can be no guarantees there will be no disruption to the daily business of the community, we are confident that, with the assistance of the council, an operation can be put into place to minimise such and thereby allow the SDL rally to go ahead and cater for an opposition rally too."
SNP councillor Rob Munn, chair of the regulatory committee, said it was not legally allowed to take into account criticism of the group's political stance, but could consider equalities and public safety issues.
read more at the Scotsman.com
.
The group wants to march from near the American Embassy to the east end of Princes Street the day before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Critics believe the group has deliberately chosen the date to inflame racial hatred and capitalise on recent publicity linking its sister group, the English Defence League, with Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik.
The SDL has given Edinburgh City Council, which will rule on the application tomorrow, "freedom of speech" as the main reason for holding the event, which it expects to attract around 200 supporters.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill wants the protest banned, claiming the group is known to espouse "both racist and homophobic views" and expressing concern the march could pose a threat to public safety.
Local MSPS are also among those against the application.
Lothian and Borders Police has warned the local authority to consider the group's proposed demo "in the context" of the recent riots that flared across several English cities.
But it has effectively given the green light to the march, which will include a rally beside the statue of the Duke of Wellington, despite admitting the group's views are "controversial" and that a sizeable "opposition rally" is likely to be held.
Superintendent David Carradice has told the council he is confident the force can handle a demo by the SDL and any planned counter-demonstration, insisting it is used to catering for groups that want to "exercise their right to protest".
He said: "Whilst there can be no guarantees there will be no disruption to the daily business of the community, we are confident that, with the assistance of the council, an operation can be put into place to minimise such and thereby allow the SDL rally to go ahead and cater for an opposition rally too."
SNP councillor Rob Munn, chair of the regulatory committee, said it was not legally allowed to take into account criticism of the group's political stance, but could consider equalities and public safety issues.
read more at the Scotsman.com
.
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