Alabama state senator’s affidavit helps vacate relative’s child sex abuse conviction

A Madison County man’s guilty plea and 12-year prison sentence for sexually abusing a child under 12 were vacated after a post-conviction petition that included an unusual supporting witness: his brother-in-law, Alabama State Sen. Larry Stutts.

Stutts, R - Tuscumbia, signed a sworn affidavit for the Rule 32 petition describing months of conversations with Thomas Alvin Vernor III about the criminal case, his guilty plea and the sentence he expected to receive.