FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
March 15, 2016
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
AG ANNOUNCES THAT COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
UPHOLDS BUTLER COUNTY MURDER AND RAPE CONVICTIONS
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the murder and first-degree rape
convictions of Shawn McClain. McClain, 31, of Georgiana, was convicted in the Butler
County Circuit Court in August of 2015 for the rape and murder of Dorothy
Leatherwood.
The record at the trial indicated that in 2012, McClain earned money by
performing a variety of odd jobs and yard work for his neighbor, Dorothy
Leatherwood. On November 12, 2012, while at Leatherwood’s home to collect payment
for yard work that he had performed earlier that day, McClain raped her and stabbed
her in the neck.
The case was prosecuted at trial by Butler County District Attorney Charlotte
Tesmer. McClain pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment for each
conviction. He subsequently sought to have his guilty plea convictions 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
convictions. The Court did so in a decision issued on Friday, March 11.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Kristi
Wilkerson of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section for her successful work
in this case.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
