Man convicted of killing child gets new trial
A Franklin County man convicted of capital murder over three years ago will soon be back in the county to receive a new trial for the 2005 death of his son.
Jodey Wayne Waldrop, 32, formerly of Red Bay, was convicted of capital murder in August 2007 for killing his three-week-old son, Jodey Jo “Chance” Waldrop in September 2005.
After Franklin County Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey sentenced Waldrop to death at an Oct. 1, 2007, sentencing hearing, Waldrop immediately began the appeal process.
On March 5 of this year, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the guilty verdict based on the plain-error rule, a rule that states that in capital murder cases, an appeals court can reverse a judgment because of a mistake in the proceedings even though no objection was made at the time the mistake occurred.
According to the Court of Criminal Appeals’ opinion, Dempsey did not instruct jurors to disregard testimony concerning an assault conviction Waldrop had received in Mississippi prior to the capital murder charge.
Even though Waldrop’s attorneys did not object, the lack of instruction was still enough for a reversal.
After the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the verdict, the case went to the Alabama Supreme Court, which refused on Friday to hear arguments from the attorney general’s office asking for the Court of Criminal Appeals ruling to be reversed.
According to officials, Waldrop will be transported from Holman Death Row in Atmore to the Franklin County Jail to await his new trial. It will also be determined whether or not Waldrop will have the same defense attorneys who represented him in his last case.
Even though Waldrop will be getting a second chance at his capital murder trial, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said Waldrop is currently serving time for other charges besides the capital murder charge.
“Waldrop pled guilty to escape in 2008 and received a 10-year sentence,” Rushing said. “His attorneys will more than likely ask for his bond to be set so he can be out of jail while he waits on this second trial, but he’s already escaped once, so we will ask that he remain in custody.”
Rushing added that at the very least, Waldrop should still serve time for the escape conviction.
Hearing dates and a date for Waldrop’s transport are yet to be determined, but officials believe he will be back in the county in the next two to four weeks.
