MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. — One of the two men charged in the 2020 slaying of seven people in Morgan County has asked to be notified if the State of Alabama intends to seek the death penalty in his case. Attorneys for Frederic Allen Rogers filed the request as part of several motions this week.
A motion to be apprised if the death penalty is being sought was granted, as was an additional motion for the state to disclose "aggravating circumstances" which it would use to argue that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment. A third motion, for the state to reveal all mitigating circumstances obtained by the state. This motion was granted in part; the state has 45 days from the judge's ruling (Feb. 13) to make those disclosures, but the order will not require the state to discover any new mitigating circumstances thereafter.
Rogers and John Michael Legg are accused of shooting and killing seven people, ranging in ages between 17 and 45, at a home in Valhermoso Springs on June 4, 2020. After more than two weeks, the pair were arrested following a traffic stop in Oregon.
Rogers was 23 at the time, and Legg, 19. Legal records show Legg was charged with 2nd-degree escape in July 2022.
Both men are scheduled for case status hearings on April 4. Rogers' capital murder trial is scheduled to begin in August.
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