By Carol Robinson
al.com
BIBB COUNTY, Ala. — The state of Alabama will pay $1 million to the estate of slain Bibb County Deputy Brad Johnson, who was shot to death last year in the line of duty.
Johnson, a 32-year-old father of two daughters, was killed June 29, 2022, when he and Deputy Chris Poole were chasing Austin Patrick Hall in a stolen vehicle, officials have said.
Authorities said Hall opened fire on them. Johnson died the following day. Poole survived.
Hall, now 27, was quickly arrested after the fatal shooting. A grand jury in April issued a five-count indictment against Hall.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced the settlement, saying, “Fundamental flaws in Alabama law granting correctional incentive ‘good time’ to inmates failed Deputy Johnson and his family.”
“On January 9, I issued an executive order to halt the deficiencies in correctional good time that allowed inmates reduced prison sentences and early release despite records of violent behavior and escape,” Ivey said.
“On April 14, I was also proud to sign into law SB1, which codifies further reforms to correctional good time to ensure that convicted felons no longer access loopholes in the law to threaten law enforcement and the public.
“Alabama stands behind our law enforcement personnel and we must do all we can to ensure they are afforded every protection under the law to safely do their jobs.”
Tommy James, the attorney representing Johnson’s estate, said the settlement addresses allegations concerning the circumstances that led to Johnson’s death.
Those allegations focus on Hall’s lengthy criminal history and the fact that he was out of jail despite his record, which included an escape while he was in a work release program.
James noted that Hall’s criminal record includes at least 46 charges and multiple jail stints.
“Deputy Johnson was more than a law enforcement officer; he was a devoted public servant and a true hero, and we will never forget his sacrifice,” James added. “His tragic death is a stark reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers face every day.”
“Now that this settlement has been reached, Deputy Johnson’s family can focus on the criminal case against Austin Patrick Hall,” James said. “They are hoping for swift and severe justice.”
James has represented victims in similar cases.
Previously, he represented the families of the three murder victims of Jimmy O’Neal Spencer in Guntersville in a case against the State of Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. Spencer was alleged to have been wrongfully paroled at the time of the murders.
Like today’s resolution, James said, the State agreed to pay the maximum amount permitted under the law in those cases.
“Brad’s family is extremely grateful for the overwhelming support they have received from citizens throughout the state and across the country, and ask for continued thoughts and prayers,” James said.
Following Hall’s arrest, some state authorities spoke out, saying he shouldn’t have been out of lockup when the deadly shooting took place.
Hall had been in trouble with the law beginning in his teens. He had at least 46 criminal charges lodged against him over the past decade.
Hall’s criminal history has been scrutinized and used in a call for stricter laws and reform to lessen the chance of something like Hall’s slaying happening again.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall last year, following Johnson’s death, issued a statement on Hall’s criminal past, calling the state’s Good Time Law – which allows inmates to shave off incarceration days with good behavior in prison – broken.
Marshall also talked about Hall being out on bond for arrests that took place following his formal release from the Alabama Department of Corrections.
At the time the fatal shooting, Hall had completed a prison sentence for an earlier crime and was not on parole or probation.
Hall’s first encounter with the law came in 2016 when he was charged with theft and burglary, for which he received probation. While on probation, he was arrested on nine new charges of theft and burglary, Marshall said.
Hall pleaded guilty to second-degree theft and, in 2018, was sentenced to nine years and nine months in state prison, likely because of his criminal history, Marshall said.
Hall was on work release with the Alabama Department of Corrections in 2019 when he escaped. He was on the run for more than a month when he was taken into custody following a police chase that ended in Georgia.
In that case, Oxford police officers tried to stop Hall when they spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen out Pelham.
Police tried to pull over the vehicle but the driver – Hall – refused to stop and a chase ensued eastbound on Interstate 20.
The pursuit ended when Georgia State Patrol “pitted” the suspect at mile marker 5. Hall’s vehicle overturned but he was not injured.
“Despite this, after serving less than four years of his sentence, the shooter was awarded correctional incentive time (good time), which was, and inexplicably remains, permissible under the state’s ultra-lenient incentive time law,’’ Marshall said last year.
At the time of his capture, Hall also had outstanding warrants in Chilton County for domestic violence.
While he was being held in the Calhoun County Jail in 2020 after his recapture, court records show, authorities say Hall attacked an officer and tried to choke him. He was charged with second-degree assault.
Hall was indicted in Calhoun County in May 2022 on 10 charges of second-degree receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment, second-degree assault, certain persons prohibited from carrying a firearm, drug possession, resisting arrest, attempting to elude and third-degree burglary.
Those indictments stem from the 2019 incidents in Calhoun County.
Hall ended his sentence on April 8, 2022, and was fully released from the Department of Corrections’ custody and supervision.
“Days after his release from state custody, the shooter bonded out of jail on 10 new charges in Calhoun County and 12 new charges in Chilton County—including charges of assaulting a police officer and illegally possessing a firearm,’’ Marshall previously said.
“In both counties, his bond was set in keeping with the recommended fee range. After he made bond, the shooter walked free to await his trial.”
He said then that Correctional Incentive Time laws are broken.
“Had the shooter served his entire sentence, he would not have been able to commit his brazen crime spree across our state, which ended in capital murder,’’ the attorney general said.
“Furthermore, an inmate who escapes custody should never, under any circumstance, be rewarded with early release.”
—
©2023 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit al.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.