DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — The Court of Criminal Appeals has denied a request by former Decatur Police Officer Mac Marquette to toss his murder charge.
Marquette argued he was acting in self-defense when he shot Stephen Perkins on Sept. 29, 2023, during a botched repossession attempt outside Perkins’s home. Marquette was indicted for murder in early 2024, and his murder trial is currently set for September 15.
Marquette and his lawyers argue that he was justified in using deadly force against Perkins because Perkins had pointed his gun at Marquette. In late March, a hearing on those arguments was held, and Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott denied Marquette’s immunity claims.
Marquette’s attorneys appealed that ruling, leading to the Court of Criminal Appeals examining the issue.
The appeal argued Elliott abused his discretion in denying Marquette immunity. Marquette’s lawyers also argued that the ALEA investigator in the shooting case found Perkins was the aggressor and that Marquette was justified in using deadly force.
His attorneys also argued that while Judge Elliott found Marquette was essentially trespassing on Perkins’s property the night of the repossession, that does not change Marquette’s legal right to use force if he is facing a deadly threat.
In a 43-page filing in July, the Attorney General’s Office, acting on behalf of Morgan County prosecutors, told the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals that Marquette’s self-defense claims at this point should not lead to a granting of immunity on the murder charge.
Marquette has the option of appealing the ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court.
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