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Feature
Murder Allegation Most Foul
The remarkable life and imprisonment of Stephen Nodine.
(Page 3 of 4)
When it turned out that the Lortab prescriptions were legitimate, the feds — obviously wanting to keep the pressure on Nodine in order to “break his will” in the murder case being pursued by their friends in local law enforcement — found another avenue. While spending three days in the psych ward, he had tested positive for marijuana and admitted to smoking a joint on the beach the day Downs died. So they hit him under the same law, for marijuana-plus-gun rather than Lortab-plus-gun.
So local, state, and federal prosecutors had Nodine in a three-way pincer: impeachment, potplus- gun, and capital murder. Establish an official record in one case of Nodine misbehaving under the influence, and they could introduce that evidence of Nodine-as-convict in the other cases to make him appear all the more sinister for the jurors in the strangely delayed murder trial.
Here’s where things got Kafkaesque. Nodine’s legal team saw the trap and, quite understandably, moved to delay the federal marijuana-gun case until after the murder trial. It was a most reasonable request. Not only was the federal charge an unfair application of a law clearly not meant to cover somebody who neither dealt drugs nor used a weapon in connection with the drug trade, but a trial on that issue clearly would poison the well for the murder jury. There was no reason, none at all, not to postpone. But District Court Judge Ginny Granade wouldn’t budge. Murder trial be damned, she forced the federal gun case forward.
Nodine had no real choice: Rather than expend time, effort, and money to fight that charge while a murder rap hung over his head, he pleaded guilty. Amazingly, even though it was a first-ever conviction for him, without any evidence of actual gun use, Judge Granade handed down a stiff sentence: 15 months in the federal pokey. Fifteen months, for keeping a perfectly legal handgun under his bed.
Early this year, in a West Virginia case challenging a similar use of that federal statute for a non-violeny,casual narcotics user, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a retrial because, absent other compelling evidence, the use of the law in that way would violate the Second Amendment.
The Fourth Circuit is correct. Gun ownership unconnected to illegal use is nothing more than possession of a perfectly legal instrument of self-protection. The National Rifle Association should be, well, up in arms against this trampling of the right to bear.
Thus, completely apart from the murder case (and yes, dear reader, we will return to that narrative), Stephen Nodine found himself in a pen, assigned to Federal Corrections Institute Miami, in his old stomping grounds of South Florida. And, as was his wont, Nodine again, yes again, found himself befriended by the rich and famous. Even in a federal prison, Stephen Nodine was far removed from the welfare cheese of his early youth.
Lord Conrad Black, media mogul and respected historian, was in the same federal prison for alleged financial shenanigans — a conviction many observers (especially conservatives) think was a total sham, an example of overzealous prosecutors criminalizing the mere give-and-take of the free market.
Black had written an excellent biography of Richard Nixon, so he knew Nixon’s chief of staff, Alexander Haig, very well indeed. He and Nodine could trade Haig stories. And he and Nodine could trade stories, both well founded, of prosecutorial abuse. So it was that Conrad Black, Baron of Crossharbour, wrote a March 2012 piece for the Huffington Post, highlighting such abuses and using the Nodine gun case as a prime example.
“In the facility where we were, there was no shortage of people who did absolutely nothing to deserve to get there, but Stephen really stood out,” Black told me in a May 21 phone interview. “There are many honest, conscientious prosecutors — but also, many of them who have no real discipline on them can get away with what they want. People wielding great power with no curb on them are going to do a lot of damage. [I did everything I could to investigate Nodine’s case, and] there were some particularly unappetizing aspects of how they treated him. It reeked.”
IN LATE APRIL OF THIS YEAR, Stephen Nodine was released from federal prison. The murder charge, however, still hangs over his head, with a trial expected September 10. Here’s why:
Seven months after Angel Downs died, Nodine was tried for murder. All of southern Alabama seemed to follow every development, every courtroom Tweet, each tiny new piece of evidence. It was coastal Alabama’s version of the O.J. Simpson trial — and it even had a leather glove moment. Prosecutor Judy Newcomb, in one of her several bizarre theories about the case, spent large amounts of time positing that Nodine had dragged Downs’ body a few feet after the shooting, “staging” the scene before jumping in his truck and speeding away. As evidence of such staging, she kept insisting that Downs’ long blond hair, curiously fanned out behind her head like a halo, could not have fallen that way as a result of the shooting itself.
At one point, Newcomb had pillows put on the courtroom floor to cushion herself, and then personally re-enacted the way Downs probably fell.
Oops! When Newcomb fell back, trying to show that hair doesn’t normally splay that way, her own hair ended up fanned out behind her in, yes, a halo effect, almost exactly as Downs was found. The only thing missing was a defense attorney like Johnnie Cochran to holler that if the hair wasn’t fixed, you can’t convict.
Even so, the jury deadlocked. Nine of 12 jurors thought Nodine was guilty. His truck, after all, had been seen speeding away from the scene. No conviction, but no acquittal. Prosecutors insist that, with Nodine’s federal sentence now completed, they will try him again.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.26.12 @ 8:34AM
That perp cartoon looks auspicious. A black man held onto by two white police officers. Are those police officers stupid? Did they leave no stone unturned? Are you changing into Ed Asner?
He will get a trial and he can present his side there. Apparently, there was some evidence which looked bad for him. It will come out at the trial and he will have to put forth a defense.
Maybe he is innocent. However, he played a dangerous game and all games have winners and losers.
Brooksifier | 6.26.12 @ 2:00PM
What is the message of the piece? Adultery killed Angel?
PCC| 6.26.12 @ 8:46AM
This is why we have a jury system. Let justice take its course.
C'mon Man!| 6.26.12 @ 11:59AM
You mean the jury system where 9 of 12 jurors found him guilty with lousy "evidence?" Yeah, I'm sure he has a lot of faith in that...
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 1:49PM
Or maybe 9 of the 12 had no faith in Nodine.
TrueBlue | 6.26.12 @ 2:37PM
Don't have to have faith in a person to find them "not guilty." Evidence and fact lean far in his direction.
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 4:07PM
Of course not and that wasn't my point. Nodine is the lowest form of human creation by his own choice and in so doing lacks any credibility. Its not unheard of for a jury to be swayed based on character.
The facts nor the evidence lean far in either direction. In the end, the evidence may not be able to prove that Nodine pulled the trigger, but his actions (and past) tell a story of someone that isn't telling the whole truth.
Fast and Curious| 6.26.12 @ 10:05AM
"beyond a reasonable doubt" can never be reached in this case. There is just no way he could have done this without any physical evidence.
Oldefarte| 6.26.12 @ 11:55AM
I will not comment on this situation for personal reasons!!!!!!!!!
HBealeJr| 6.26.12 @ 12:50PM
Your argument that he has been framed sounds reasonable. However, if he had been at home with his wife and not involved in an affair with a drug addicted woman (to say nothing of his own addiction), he would not have gone to jail and be subject to murder charges.
Mom always said, don't put yourself in situations were trouble can happen and you won't get into trouble.
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 1:47PM
A most brilliant piece of fiction Mr Hillyer! Most brilliant!
I have to say my favorite part of this tale has to be Mr Hillyer's attempt to use Lord Conrad Black as a credible witness (and part time defense attorney as well it appears) for Nodine. The same Conrad Black who was convicted of defrauding the company he worked for in excess of $60 million, or as Mr Hillyer refers to it as "shenanigans". Oh, that cheeky ol' Conrad and his "shenanigans". Last time I checked, I don't believe defrauding a corporation of $60 million falls into the "shenanigans" catergory.
Of course, Mr Hillyer further attempts to lend our felonious friend (Black) some credibility by repeating the same, tired mantra of the innocent prisons. Its such a shame in this country that prison after prison is filled to capacity with innocent men and women. A crying shame, really!
After this piece, its hard to decide who has less credibility: Nodine or Hillyer. At least in the case of Nodine, he's not the one with the hook in his mouth.
JPTravis | 6.26.12 @ 3:27PM
You are entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts. According to what actually happened in the legal system, Conrad Black was convicted of nothing but impeding a federal investigation by removing personal items from his office IN CANADA after being ASKED to remove those items by the company. That's all. Akin to Martha Stewart's conviction for lying about a crime she didn't commit. Our federal prosecutors are out of control. They're thugs no less dangerous than Al Capone's gang.
Quin Hillyer| 6.26.12 @ 5:15PM
JPTravis is right about Black. The whole $60 million thing was bogus. Just another of Patrick Fitzgerald's personal vendetta/witch hunts (remember Scooter Libby?). Fitzgerald was out of control. So are many federal prosecutors. Read the Heritage Foundation's "One Nation Under Arrest": http://site.heritage.org/Levin/default.aspx
anamvet68| 6.27.12 @ 6:46AM
Being a retired Fed. Officer Mobile knows nothing about evidence collection or "time lines" or anything about crime. It's about a possible "crime" NOT his personal life. JPTravis is right in his reply to Mobile. Like I have said before most people on this site are STUPID!
nononsense| 6.27.12 @ 4:23PM
Fiction???
Fiction...God what an idiot...
the only one that is not credible her is YOU...
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 3:19PM
It's not at all uncommon for a narcissist to portray his ex-spouse/girlfriend as "nuts." It's how they build sympathy.
Meanwhile, in most cases the ex-spouse/girlfriend has actually become nuts directly due to his behavior, which includes a great deal of "gas-lighting" and emotional abuse.
This guy matches the profile.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:34PM
I re-read the article again, and I must admit, Mr. Hilyer, that your seeming attempt to vindicate Mr. Nodine looks very weak.
First of all, as I mentioned in a previous posts, ex-wives and/or girlfriends are commonly referred to as "nuts" by the kind of men whom even you referred to as "skanks."
Second, your time-frame doesn't really say he's innocent.
Steps A-B require hardly anytime at all. If Ms. Downs was yelling and upset, it's possible Mr. Nodine would have simply turned on his heels and headed back out the door.
Steps C-D are actually the same step; they struggled ON the porch, and he (supposedly) got the gun. How long does it take a very physically fit man to wrestle a gun from a drunk woman?
Step E: He has the gun, and he shoots her in the head. Again, how long would this take??
Step F: He runs to his car; what, is her driveway half a mile long??
Step G: He gets in his car and drives off.
2-3 minutes, in this context, is an eternity.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:41PM
Also...Let's look at Nodine's personality (based on your article):
He's a liar (he's cheating in his wife, and lied to Ms. Downs for some time).
He likes to ingratiate himself with people in positions of power.
He likes to portray himself as a selfless man-of-the-people, all the while mugging for the camera.
He seeks publicity for his own ends, and is not above exaggeration and distortion.
He's addicted to narcotics (of course... they're for "pain", right?)
He smokes pot.
He's being impeached from his political office for committing a crime.
Sounds like an upstanding citizen...
Look closely into Mr. Nodine's personal life, especially his relationship with Ms. Downs. I'm willing to bet there were other women, too. I'm also willing to bet that he made repeatd promises to Ms. Downs to leave his wife...promises that he never intended to keep.
Quin Hillyer| 6.26.12 @ 8:42PM
Hey, there is not a single thing in this feature that suggests I think Stephen Nodine was an upstanding citizen. But it's just one hell of a human interest story, a "True Crime" special that needed to be told -- especially after, having done the research and gone over everything with a fine tooth comb, I discovered that it is quite unlikely that he killed her. My bet is that prosecutors won't actually go through with the murder charge after all; what I did NOT put in the piece, because it was so long already, was that another grand jury was convened after the first trial was inconclusive, and the new grand jury REFUSED to charge Nodine with murder, instead coming up with some rare charge that amounts to being morally culpable for her death (harassed her into suicide, or something like that) without having actually done the deed himself..... but the prosecutors chose to throw out that grand jury and return to the original grand jury indictment, which technically was still standing.
anamvet68| 6.27.12 @ 6:53AM
Very good Hillyer most people on this site don't do research or are toooooooo lazy to do it or just don't care. Their like the Fed. and local prosecutors lazy and looking to improve their standing.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:43PM
In short, from what I've read, Mr. Nodine is the proto-typical narcissist.
FYI, one of the characteristics of the narcissist is their ability to fool others into believing "He/she would have NEVER done such a thing!"
That's how they roll...
TinaB| 6.26.12 @ 7:00PM
From my meager level of expertise, I read some great mystery authors and I watch way too much true crime on tv, a GSR test for both victim and Nodine would have made some serious difference. That neither was tested for gun shot residue tells me they believed they had their man and wrapped the investigation right up. Too bad, I thought of it immediately upon reading a murder/suicide was in question. An old retired math tchr vs. the Mobile PD, no contest. Unless they wanted it that way, an easier case for them to make without this.
Truncheon| 6.27.12 @ 10:43AM
A boozing, pill-popping, overambitious, dope-smoking philanderer with a neurotic mistress finds himself horribly tangled in the webs of distrust and deceit he wove about his life.
Pardon me while I fail to generate a tear....
TinaB| 6.27.12 @ 2:28PM
No, no tears for him. Yes, it would seem that Nodine has made a nasty bed for himself, and now, at least for a time, he is being forced to lie down in it.
I am seeing a lot of what goes around come around lately. I don't find that such a bad thing generally. However I am truly grateful that I didn't get everything I deserved after some of the webs I've woven in my life. I have reaped much of what I have sown, just not all of it. Yet.
God is in the business of forgiving His children, and I have asked, begged even, for that gift. I have received it as He has received me. With arms wide open. That's consequences, but no condemnation.
nononsense| 6.27.12 @ 4:20PM
Some people just cannot accept the truth for what it is...Steve Nodine did NOT kill Ms. Downs...
Some of you would not believe that he did not do this if God came to earth and told you he did not kill her.... How narrow some of you really are...
TinaB| 6.27.12 @ 5:46PM
Don't you think sometimes people get what's coming to them in a round about way? If they crap on people for years, then change, they pay consequences of an unrelated nature, and get crapped on back? Just changing your ways doesn't always mean you are free from the consequences of your previous horrible behavior. Sometimes.
Dedicated_Dad | 7.5.12 @ 12:50PM
Wow.
It's AMAZING to me how many people have NO clue how our "justice system" is supposed to work.
Whether or not the man was a "skank" is irrelevant to this legal case.
The only question is whether he is guilty of murder BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT.
Woman with a dangerous cocktail of drugs in her system found in a position that makes suicide obvious.
Her blood and brain matter spread over the area, but he has none on him at all, anywhere. No trace on his hands, clothes or truck.
It's not up to him to prove he didn't kill her, it's up to the state to prove he DID - BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT.
Not even close.
It seems as though FL has a SERIOUS problem with overzealous prosecutors here lately!
Again - the man's obviously a sleazeball, but that's not a crime. No way in hell he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
No way.
insighted| 1.3.13 @ 5:35PM
I find this truly unbelievable!
First of all Nodine IS narcissistic scum and he DID kill Angel Downs. BUT!! Take away that and you still have to scratch your head over the fact that he is working in the judicial system while serving time for perjury! Ya gotta love the "Good Ol Boy System" in Alabama...He is guilty and I am not just speculating.
insighted| 1.3.13 @ 5:35PM
I find this truly unbelievable!
First of all Nodine IS narcissistic scum and he DID kill Angel Downs. BUT!! Take away that and you still have to scratch your head over the fact that he is working in the judicial system while serving time for perjury! Ya gotta love the "Good Ol Boy System" in Alabama...He is guilty and I am not just speculating.