The lawyer for the families of three people who were killed in Guntersville, allegedly by a man on parole, says it’s encouraging the governor and attorney general are holding the Alabama Parole Board’s “feet to the fire.”
Attorney Tommy James says the letter Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall sent to the parole board shows the board hasn’t been following their own policies and is “more confirmation that the board is in disarray and has been for a long time.”
On Thursday Ivey and Marshall released a letter to the board, telling them that their corrective action plan leaves too many questions unanswered. Ivey and Marshall say the plan does not show how the board will fulfill their promises in the four areas of concern. Those are excellence in executive leadership, creating a culture of respect towards victims and law enforcement, ensuring adequate preparation for parole hearings, and maintaining supervision of parolees.
The board must respond to the questions in Ivey and Marshall’s letter. They’re instructed to do so “as quickly as possible.”
In October Ivey gave the board 30 days to come up with a corrective action plan. She also replaced the board chairman and signed an executive order to temporarily stop early paroles.
Last summer Jimmy Spencer, a man with a violent criminal history dating back decades, was granted parole. The board is accused of then losing sight of him and he allegedly killed two elderly women, Martha Reliford and Marie Martin, and Martin’s seven-year old great-grandson Colton Lee.
“They don’t follow their own policies and procedures to even supervise him,” James said about Spencer. “And he’s allowed to murder these people. Colton Lee was gonna turn eight yesterday. Sadly at age seven he was murdered, innocent little seven-year old boy, because the board messed up.”
Read the instructions for the board from Ivey and Marshall below.
