An attorney for Mobile mayoral candidate Stephen Nodine has asked the state parole board for an expedited decision on Nodine’s request to be pardoned on a state conviction.
Fairhope attorney Pascal Bruijn sent a supplemental filing to the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles on March 13. He asked the board to rule on Nodine’s request for a pardon “well before the election date of August 8 of 2025.”
The election date in Mobile is actually on August 26. That difference in dates would likely not affect Nodine’s request for a speedy decision.
Bruijn earlier filed a request for a pardon on Nodine’s behalf. He had represented Nodine in some criminal proceedings in Baldwin County.
Nodine was a member of the Mobile City Council from 2001 through 2004 and the Mobile County Commission from 2004 to 2010.
In May 2010, he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend Angel Downs in Gulf Shores. His trial later that year ended in a hung jury. To avoid a retrial, he entered a plea bargain, pleading guilty to harassment and perjury. He spent two years in the Baldwin County Jail.
Bruijn’s supplemental filing can be found below.
In an unusual legal situation, it appears that Nodine is already eligible to vote and to run for office since the conviction was not a crime of moral turpitude. However, if elected, he would not be eligible to serve in office. The requested pardon could solve that problem.
Nodine is running in a crowded field. The mayor’s seat in Mobile is open because incumbent Mayor Sandy Stimpson is not seeking re-election.
Other candidates are County Commissioner Connie Hudson, former District Judge Spiro Cheriogotis, State Rep. Barbara Drummond, former police chief and public safety director Lawrence Battiste, former City Councilman Jermaine Burrell and former police chief Paul Prine.
If no candidate receives a majority (50% plus one vote) in the August 26 election, the top two will face each other in a runoff Sept. 23.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
