Judge John E. Rochester retires?

Judge John E. Rochester has retired from the bench due to ill health (I hear). I've been hearing that he would retire for the last two years. Rochester has no business being on the bench after what happened with his drug trafficking son.

For past coverage of the Rochester clan click here.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

So, will these people get probation from Judge Rochester?

The Clay Times Journal has released the Grand jury report from August and 9 out of 11 indictments are for controlled substance violations.

I can't help but wonder if these poor souls will be shown the same favoritism and leniency that was shown to Alex Rochester, the son of Judge John Rochester....the judge who will be presiding over these cases. If I were a betting gal I'd put my money on NO.

I've been hearing numerous reports that Alex Rochester violated his probation a few months ago....but his probation was not revoked and he was not placed in prison. However, there have been no papers filed in the court system to that effect. Of course, if your daddy is the judge then it'd be really easy to keep those papers from making their way into the AlaCourt system. Also odd that the probation office in the Court House caught fire right around the same time the reports about Alex violating probation were coming in. Those reports came from people who saw him in court and from a couple of different lawyers in Clay County.

Grand Jury report given

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 1:16 PM EDT

The following was released by Clay County Circuit Clerk Jeff Colburn regarding results of the August session of the Clay County Grand Jury.

The following indictments were issued. Readers are reminded these people are still presumed innocent unless they plead guilty or are found guilty by a jury in a regular session of court.

Christopher Glenn Ackles, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Cedric Bernard Adair, Obstruction of Justice.

Billy Wayne Atchley: Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance, three counts.
Angie Lee Beamon, Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Gerald Bishop, Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

James Bishop, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Laura Ann Boyd, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Lisa Dawn Brannon, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Use/Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Bradley Ray Brown, Use/Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana First Degree.

Donald Lyn Brown, Possession of a Controlled Substance.

James Harold Bunt II, Theft of Property Second Degree, two charges, and two charges of Burglary, Third Degree.

Jessica Marie Businelle, Burglary Third Degree.

Largest drug bust in Clay County History?

The Clay Times Journal is reporting the largest drug bust in Clay Count History. That is a title I thought for sure was held by Clay County Circuit Court Judge John E. Rochester's son, Alex Rochester who was arrested in the Ashland City Park in March of 2008 after he was found to be in possession of the following;

1. Two baggies, envelope, one vial, crack cocaine, powder cocaine Total: 32 grams (1 ounce give or take)
2. Two 1 gallon bags containing marijuana
3. 5 sandwich baggies containing marijuana. 4 were corners of bags packaged for resale.
4. 1100 Extacy pills in 11 baggies (Alex said he had bought 2500 in Atlanta the week before and had already sold 1400 at $10 a piece)
5. 2 straws, 2 rolled up dollar bills and two pipes.
6. 26 Xanax pills


The online version of today's Clay Times Journal article does not list amounts of drugs recovered...only that there were 34 arrests. I'll be in Clay County later today and will pick up a copy and see what other details are available.

Alex Rochester only got his name mentioned in the police blotter after his arrest. He also was only given 5 years probation even though he admitted dealing, interstate drug trafficking and was caught with all those drugs at the park and within three miles of schools, churches, daycare centers and public housing facilities.....each of which carry an additional 5 year mandatory minimum sentence. There was also a 19 year old in the car with him. He was not charged with anything in connection to his passenger.

I hope that the lawyers for these defendants will use the Alex Rochester defense in John E. Rochester's courtroom.

I plan to write a letter to the editor about the unfair and downright unethical 'journalism' practices taking place at the Clay Times Journal. At any real newspaper the story of the Judge's son getting busted for that amount of drugs and the preferential treatment he received would have been front page news for months. But, in the Alex Rochester case, that is a story that was never written. Yet, every other person to be arrested for drugs in Clay County since that time has been front page news. I encourage all of my readers to send them an email as well.

Here are the contact email addresses. I tried to use the online form for sending an LTE, but it has never worked and does not work today.

Ray Stansell - claytimes@centurytel.net

Sherry Mattox - timesjournal@centurytel.net

Tammy Griffin - timesjournal@centurytel.net

Another outrageous bond in Clay County

Clay Times Journal

A young man was arrested last week in Lineville, Al, which is located in Clay County. According to the newspaper...

The officers found a small amount of what they believed to be marijuana packaged in separate bags, apparently so it could be sold.

Mr. Torey Lasean Sterling was charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana 1st, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was transported to Clay County jail where he is currently being held under a total bond of $121,000.00.

$121,000 for a little bit of weed? Compare that ungodly high bond to what John Alexander Rochester received for trafficking 32 grams of crack and powder cocaine, a gallon bag of marijuana, 5 sandwich baggies of marijuana, 26 xanax pills, 8 klonopin pills and 1100 extacy pills.

John Alexander Rochester's Bonds

Charge - Trafficking of Methyl Amphetamine - Bond $20,000, Class C Felony

Charge - possession of drug paraphernalia - Bond $5,000, Class A Misdemeanor

Charge - distribution of a controlled substance - Bond $15,000, Class B Felony
(the other two people charged with this crime had bonds of $30,000 and $100,000)

Charge - possession of a controlled substance - Bond $15,000, Class C Felony
This fine is only half or less of what other defendants charged with the same offense had to pay. Why were others charged double or more?

Charge - 1st degree possession of marijuana - Bond $10,000, Class C Felony

Charge - trafficking cocaine - Bond $20,000. Class A Felony

Clay County Alabama needs to be investigated by the federal government! I'll pull the case file on the Sterling kid and see if Judge George C. Simpson or Judge John E. Rochester set the bond that high. I'll also try and make contact with the family so that they are aware of how badly they are being screwed by the Clay County judicial system. Maybe they can use the "Rochester defense" to get this kid the same treatment that Alex Rochester got.

Clarification on the Alex Rochester case

I've had a couple of emails and one comment asking me why I am advocating for Alex Rochester to go to prison for drug trafficking.

I am not advocating for anyone to go to prison.

I've said all along that I don't think anyone should be in jail/prison for any non-violent drug offense. I've said it in blog posts, radio interviews and in that news article in the Anniston Star although it didn't make it into the final printed version.

What I want to make the judge answer to is why prison is perfectly all right for the children of the 'peasants' but not for the children of 'royalty'. I want the judge to be made to answer why his son wasn't charged with interstate drug trafficking when anyone else would have been. Why his son wasn't subjected to the mandatory minimums like anyone else would have been. Why asset forfeiture wasn't used against his son when anyone else would have lost everything that they own. I want the DA and the judge who presided over this case to tell us how many other people charged with similar crimes, who weren't related to a judge, received such a sweetheart deal. I think the public has a right to know the answers to those questions. We pay these mother fuckers $150,000 a year to sit in judgment of us and we are no doubt getting the short end of that stick. It's time to stop that.

I don't think prison is the place for any non-violent drug offender but I do feel that if everyone else can't be released and placed on probation and sent to a posh treatment center like Alex Rochester then Alex Rochester should join them in an inhumane, dangerous, violent, overcrowded Alabama prison.

My job here is to afflict the comfortable. The only real way to afflict them and make them feel the pain of the thousands of families they have helped to further destroy is by asking those questions. And making them answer them.

In essence I am not trying to punish the boy....I am trying to punish the fucked up Alabama judicial system by exposing them for what they are. Unfair, racist, holier-than-thou-and-my-shit-smells-better-than-yours-too bastards. I want to make them realize in a very public way how prison isn't the place for anyone for a non-violent drug offense. Call me vindictive...but I think they need a taste of their own medicine. Its the only way they learn.

Ain't karma a bitch?

A couple more things about the Alex Rochester case

I've been re-reading all the documents I have on the Alex Rochester case and a few more things have occurred to me.

1. Why was this not a federal case? John Alexander Rochester's actions constituted interstate drug trafficking. He bought the drugs in Atlanta, Georgia and transported them across state lines to Alabama. The amounts of some of the drugs alone should have triggered federal charges (1100 Extacy pills). When Rochester was arrested he offered to turn in his supplier to the feds for a considerable reduction in his sentence so even he knew it should have been a federal case. Why was it not?

2. John Alexander Rochester is on probation in Ashland, Alabama and has to report to the probation officer Stacy Vogel at least once a month. This is beyond the pale. Alex Rochester has to report to his probation officer in the same courthouse where his dad is a judge. Seeing as how Judge Rochester has already gone to great length's see that his son receives special treatment and stays out of jail, it isn't too far fetched that Judge Rochester might also know when the drug tests are being conducted and could relay that information to his son. I know for a fact in 2007/2008 the Dept. of Probation and Paroles supervised 55,751 people on probation and 10,445 on parole. They conducted 38,322 urine screens on these 66,000 folks … that is not even one urine a year for everyone. Probationers are only required to report between the first and the fifth of each month. So this actually amounts to young Alex Rochester not really even being on probation other than on paper.

What a sweetheart deal!