PELL CITY — A St. Clair County jury found a Cropwell man guilty Wednesday of the attempted murder of a former Pell City councilman.Jurors deliberated about an hour and 40 minutes before finding John Tracy Morgan, 40, guilty of the attempted murder of Dale Richey, 59.
“I think jurors were very attentive, involved and interested,” Assistant District Attorney Joey Stevens said after the verdict was rendered late Wednesday at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Pell City. “I think justice was served in that Mr. Richey was able to be heard and tell his side of the story. This was a senseless, brutal attack.”
Jurors began deliberating about 3:36 p.m. Wednesday. They returned to the courtroom shortly after 5 p.m., asking Circuit Court Judge Jim Hill to again read the definitions for attempted murder and first-degree assault.
Jurors began deliberation again and about 10 minutes later returned to the courtroom with a unanimous verdict.
“I think the jurors were patient, they were intelligent, and they ruled,” said Shelby County defense attorney Henry Lagman, who represented Morgan. “I regret they did not find him innocent.”
Hill set Morgan’s sentencing hearing for Tuesday, June 3, and ordered that the defendant remain in the custody of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department until that time.
“I would anticipate there will be a pre-sentencing report before the judge renders his sentence,” Stevens said, adding that the District Attorney’s Office will ask for the maximum sentence. “I think he’s earned the maximum sentence allowable under the laws of this state.”
Testimony showed that on June 9, 2006, Morgan shot Richey, who was unarmed, after he intervened in a verbal confrontation between Morgan and his sister, Richey’s wife, Bonnie Morgan Richey.
Richey almost died from his wound. He remained unconscious at University Hospital in Birmingham for two weeks after the shooting. The bullet remains lodged in his spine.
Morgan’s attorney contended his client felt threatened and only shot Richey in self-defense because a perceived threat.
According to testimony Wednesday, Morgan has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The defendant also has an extremely low I.Q. and only has a seventh-grade education.
In his closing statements, Lagman told jurors Morgan’s intelligence, mental illness and stress played a part in his actions the day of the shooting.
Lagman told jurors Morgan had a confrontation with his brother Frank Morgan earlier that day, and his sister threatened to have him committed to a mental hospital.
“His reality changed,” Lagman said.
He said Richey unknowingly got into the middle of a situation he knew nothing about, and Morgan reacted because of a perceived threat by his brother-in-law.
“Paranoia overcame his common sense,” Lagman said.
Psychologists for both the state and defense testified that Morgan understood the “wrongfulness of his actions” on June 9, 2006.
“On the day in question, the defendant appears to have been experiencing delusional beliefs,” Dr. Sherry Hills, a forensic psychologist, wrote in her evaluation of Morgan. “Although these beliefs likely impacted his ability to judge the perceived consequences of his actions, the writer is of the opinion that the beliefs did not significantly impair the defendant’s ability to understand the wrongfulness of his actions during the alleged offense or impact his ability to appreciate the nature and quality of his behaviors.”
Hills evaluated Morgan at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility last year.
Morgan was also evaluated by clinical psychologist Dr. Robert Summerlin for the defense.
“I believe that Mr. Morgan had an awareness of the legal wrongfulness of his actions but felt justified to protect himself by whatever means available,” Summerlin testified.
Stevens told jurors in his closing remarks that it was apparent Morgan knew what he had done was wrong, because he fled the scene and disposed of the gun.
“He appreciated the wrongfulness of his act,” Stevens told jurors. “If he didn’t, why didn’t he just stay, stick around. Instead, he ran away.”
He said Richey did what any reasonable person would do that day. He just tried to break up a verbal confrontation between a brother and sister, his wife.
“What is unreasonable is to get shot and almost die because of it,” Stevens said.
