FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
February 7, 2017
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
AG STRANGE ANNOUNCES COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
UPHOLDS LAUDERDALE COUNTY MURDER CONVICTION
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the murder conviction of Jeremy
Leshun Williams. Williams, 32, of Florence, was convicted in November of 2015 for the
murder of Brioni “Bree” Rutland.
Evidence was presented at trial that on November 26, 2013, Williams shot
Rutland in his left eye, and then stabbed him 68 times in Florence. Williams dumped
Rutland’s body into the Tennessee River off of the old Railroad Bridge in the Sheffield
area of Colbert County.
The case was prosecuted at trial by Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris
Connolly’s office. Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment for his murder
conviction. He subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section handled the case during the
appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the
conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued on February 3.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General John Porter of
the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section for his successful work in this case.
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