Birmingham, AL Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

A plea deal agreement has Broderick Kenyo Smith admitting to manslaughter instead of capital murder in the death of Arlando Maurice Pritchett in 2012.

The plea agreement will have Smith serving just a year in jail for a split sentence of 10 years.

His jail stay will be followed with probation for three years.

Should Smith violate his probation, he could be made to serve the rest of his 10-year sentence.

According to the police, Pritchett had an argument with a cab driver prior to his shooting while Smith admitted that he had been driving a cab during the time of the incident.

Birmingham defense attorney Charles Salvagio said Smith had shot Pritchett because the latter had robbed him.

The murder charge filed against Freddie Earl Patton,53, for the shooting death of his girlfriend's father, Kenneth Millar, 81, has been dismissed upon the request of the Deputy District Attorney.

An order for Patton's release from jail has been signed, however, he may not be off the hook yet as the DA's office has stated that the case will be turned over to the grand jury in Jefferson County.

The prosecution moved for the dismissal after arguing with the defense who wanted to further question the detective about the autopsy report.

Birmingham criminal attorney John Lentine said that a manslaughter charge should have been filed instead of murder because the shooting was an accident.

If Patton gets indicted, he will have to go back to jail.

Emory Anthony, Birmingham criminal defense attorney, described his client's sentence as too severe and laced with racism.

Anthhony's client, Nathaniel Lee Baker, will be imprisoned for 228 years after he was convicted of raping a jogger in 2010. The sentence also includes conviction for related charges such as kidnapping, abuse and sodomy.

Baker added that the sentence had something to do with his client being black and the victim, a white female.

However, Anthony's claims were denied by Brandon Falls, Jefferson County District Attorney.

Falls said lengthy sentences are handed down to dissuade criminals from committing violent offenses.

He added that Anthony is the only one who sees racism in the judge's decision.

Wade Bradford's defense did not convince the jury as they found him guilty in the shooting death of Natalie Allan.

Bradford and Allan had met when Allan worked in one of Bradford's massage parlors. While they were dating, Allan was also dating Kevin Myles, her massage client.

During the trial, the prosecutors told the court that Bradford had shot Allan when she broke up with him and she and Myles had gone to Bradford's place to get her things.

This was countered by Phoenix defense lawyer Jamie Jackson saying that Bradford did not know that he had shot Allan.

According to Jackson, the gun accidentally went off because Myles had suddenly lunged at Bradford.

The jury, however, did not buy this.

Aside from Allan's death, Bradford is also facing charges for the death of another of his former girlfriend, Eleanor Su.

Melinda Muniz has been arrested and charged with the death of Grace Ford, the two-year-old daughter of her fiance, who reportedly broke up with her.

Aside from being the fiancee of the victim's father, Muniz was also the caregiver of the little girl.

Muniz's arrest has generated widespread anger with hundreds expressing their disgust for the suspect online.

Robbie McClung, a Dallas criminal attorney who will be defending for Muniz, urged the public to wait for all the facts before judging Muniz.

The police have also stated that Muniz is not considered guilty until proven otherwise.

Larry Brinkin, who used to work for the Human Rights Commission of San Francisco, entered into a plea deal agreement on his child pornography charges.

The plea deal saw a second charge of child pornography distribution dropped against the 67-year-old Brinkin.

Under the plea deal, Brinkin will spend six months behind bars and another six months of house arrest. Afterwhich, he will undergo probation for four years.

Brinkin, who is a staunch supporter of the LGBT advocacy, will also be entered in the list of sexual offender and is ordered to go through therapy.

Randall Knox, an attorney in San Francisco, said that Brinkin has been deeply sorry for what he has done and has fully understood the damage that child pornography can inflict on victims.

David Christopher Cruz was found guilty in the death of an infant, who is still five months shy of turning one years old.

The infant victim, the son of Cruz's girlfriend, was taken off life support a few days after he was brought into the hospital unconscious.

He suffered head injuries, several fractures and had bruises on his body.

Court heard that Cruz was the infant's baby sitter while the mother goes to work.

Cruz told the police that he had hit the baby because he keeps on fussing.

Michael Begovich, a criminal lawyer in San Diego defending for Cruz, said that the baby's mother also has a responsibility in her son's death because she had not consulted a doctor when the baby had an ear infection.

A jury rejected a negligence lawsuit brought by Katherine Jackson, the mother of Michael Jackson, against AEG Live LLC, the This is It concerts promoter of the King of Pop.

Katherine Jackson's lawyers claimed that the promoter erred when it failed to verify if Dr. Conrad Murray was qualified when it hired him as the singer's doctor.

AEG denied the allegation but said that Murray was hired by Michael Jackson himself.

Murray is already serving a jail sentence for the death of the popstar.

Los Angeles lawyer Marvin S. Putnam, AEG's lead defense counsel, said the jury made the right decision.

The Jackson lawyers had pointed out that the promoter was only after its own profits thus it did not bother to make sure that Murray was a qualified physician.

Putnam and his defence team claimed Murray's hiring was the singer's choice and that if their client had known about what Murray and Jackson were up to they would not have gone on with the series of concerts.