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Parker found guilty of manslaughter
A former Jackson High School star football player was found guilty of manslaughter Friday in the 2004 drive-by shooting death of a bystander at an Alma nightclub. Sherwin "Tank" Parker and four others had been indicted for murder for the death of Quinton Webb. The others-Arthur Yelder, James Yelder, Byron Worthy and Derrick Bracy-have not yet been tried. Testimony in the jury trial started last Wednesday. Circuit Judge Tom Baxter presided. Chuck Brown and the defendants got into an argument at the Star Track Lounge in Alma on Feb. 7, 2004. They were all thrown out and the defendants left in a white SUV. District Attorney Spence Walker and assistant DA Joe Thompson argued that the men fired out the windows of the SUV, aiming for Brown. They missed Brown but Webb was fatally wounded and another bullet hit and wounded Webb's cousin, Maurice Williams. Both were considered to be innocent bystanders. No weapon was found and although the indictment indicated a handgun was used, testimony revealed that it was actually a .22 magnum rifle that killed Webb. The prosecution was uncertain as to who fired the fatal shot but contended that Alabama law allows all to be charged with murder. Walker said he was confident that Parker was one of the shooters. The defense contended that the men did leave the club but left before the shooting happened. They drove to Jackson and stopped at a gas station and then left to play pool and to a friend's house, Butler attorney Perry Newton said. Newton suggested that the Clarke County Sheriff's Department, specifically its investigator Vergil Chapman, botched the investigation. He said the shots could not have been fired as the prosecution argued. He questioned the initial mistake in the indictment, witnesses who said they saw bursts of fire coming from a white SUV and the distances that had been offered. At one point Newton placed a chair in front of the jurors and sat in it and twisted at an angle that he said the heavy set Parker would have had to in order to fire the long barreled rifle out the vehicle's window. It would have been impossible, he said. He told the jurors that they must be sure "beyond a reasonable doubt" of Parker's guilt and he did not believe they could be. DA Walker disputed Newton's assertions, telling jurors, "Desperate times require desperate measures." He addressed the criticism of Deputy Chapman, noting that Newton had said he was running for chief deputy. Walker said you do not run for chief deputy. Democratic sheriff's candidate Bobby Moore has publicly stated that Chapman will be his chief deputy if he wins the race. Walker said he knew that some of the jurors were supporters of Gene Wiggins, the Republican sheriff's candidate. Both are good men, he said. "Politics have no place in the courtroom," he said. Walker said after the verdict was returned that he would have preferred a murder verdict but that he accepted the jurors' decision. Later, Walker said that the prosecution was able to impeach several of the defense's witnesses. "They simply were not telling the truth," he said. He credited Chapman's investigative skills including his tape recording of most of his interrogations he made. Transcripts allowed prosecutors to readily show jurors when different statements were made by witnesses in court, Walker explained. Parker faces a minimum of 20 years imprisonment. Judge Baxter ordered him jailed until a sentence hearing is held. Walker had offered Parker 13 and a half years for a guilty plead. Parker also faces three drug charges and an attempted murder charge. The DA reportedly offered to do away with those if he had pleaded guilty to the murder charge before the trial.
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