Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
The murder investigation in the death of a prominent Talladega attorney already is emitting a foul odor--and a suspect barely has been in custody for 48 hours.
Ocie Lee Lynch, a 30-year-old Birmingham man (photo above), was arrested late Tuesday night in the murder of Robert Blake Lazenby, a partner in perhaps the most prestigious law firm in Talladega County. Lazenby died last July from multiple gunshot wounds, and his body was found in the dining room of his Sylacauga home.
What smells funny about the murder investigation at this point? Let's consider two issues raised by a report in The Talladega Daily Home:
Lynch had an initial court appearance Wednesday morning before Talladega County District Judge Jeb Fannin, who informed him he had been charged with capital murder during the commission of a burglary in the first degree.
When the defendant asked why he was being charged with both crimes, Fannin explained that the burglary in the first degree was the aggravating circumstance that made the murder a capital case.
First, we learn that Lynch appeared before District Judge Jeb Fannin. That's the same Judge Fannin who was overseeing Blake Lazenby's divorce case at the time of the shooting. That's also the same Judge Fannin who denied multiple requests from lawyers for Geanne Lazenby to recuse himself from the divorce case, on the grounds that her husband frequently appeared before Talladega County judges, and their impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
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