Man sentenced for role in 2007 fatality

BAY MINETTE — A South Carolina man pleaded guilty last week to crimi nally negligent homicide in the case of a woman who was ejected from a moving truck in a 2007 one-vehicle accident on Interstate 65.

Gregory Dale Robertson, 46, of Camden, S.C., told Baldwin County Presiding Circuit Court Judge James H. Reid on Friday that he was guilty of the Class C felony, generally punishable by up to 10 years.

Following the terms of a plea agreement between the state and the defense, Reid sentenced Robertson to 10 years in prison, which would be reduced to the 18 months he has already served awaiting trial and three years of supervised probation, according to statements made in court.

If Robertson violates his probation, he could be ordered to spend the remainder of the 10 years in prison.

On Aug. 18, 2007, Brenda Lancour, 45, of Lugoff, S.C., was a passenger in the rented moving truck, State Trooper spokesman Cpl. Joe Piggott said at the time. While Robertson was driving the truck to move Lancour from South Carolina to Louisiana, it careened off the interstate and flipped about 7:50 a.m.

Robertson told the judge Friday that he had done crack cocaine a couple days before the accident. Robertson's attorney, Derek Rose, said he believed the evidence would show that his client had drugs in his system when he was taken to the hospital after the wreck.

No bail reduction for Middleton

A Loxley woman charged with manslaughter remained in jail last week after a judge denied a request to reduce her bail, attorneys at the hearing said.

On Wednesday, Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Charles C. Partin denied a request to reduce a $100,000 bond for Carolyn Huson Middleton, 60, who faces a manslaughter charge in the death of Jacob Clemmons, 20, after she allegedly failed to stop at an intersection April 14.

Middleton's car collided with a vehicle in which Clem mons, of Robertsdale, was riding, Loxley police said at the time. Middleton's blood alcohol level was 0.165, Pylant said. The legal definition of in toxication in Alabama is 0.08.

Middleton was charged with manslaughter and arrested on April 30. She was released on a $100,000 bail. Condition of the release included that she would only leave her home to visit court, the doctor, her attorney and church, Pylant said.

On May 10, one of Clemmons' relatives spotted Middleton at her grandson's baseball game, and her bail was eventually revoked, Pylant said. The $100,000 bail, however, was later reinstated, Middleton's attorney Tanya Hallford said after the hearing.

Hallford said that when the initial bail was set, Middleton didn't have an attorney and didn't understand the conditions.

A family member told her that she should attend the baseball game, Hallford said.

"She lived a life of domestic abuse," Hallford said. "She always had someone telling her what to do."