BLAKELY TRIAL: LCSO clerk called back to stand

Jul. 26—For the first time, a witness had to be recalled to the stand for additional testimony at the start of Week 3 in Limestone Sheriff Mike Blakely's trial.

Debbie Davis, who currently works as chief clerk of the Limestone County Sheriff's Office, previously testified last week. Her testimony had many moments in which she couldn't recall details or conversations, as well as conflicting statements, including those related to a 2014 Las Vegas trip in which Blakely is accused of stealing county funds.

Evidence and testimony show Davis provided $480 in per-diem checks to Blakely plus a $2,500 check for "travel, lodging and registration." While the per-diem is intended for food and/or fuel and can be kept if unspent, the same is not true for the $2,500 that Blakely received from a law enforcement fund intended for law enforcement purposes.

Assistant Attorney General Kyle Beckman said in his opening statement that less than $1,600 was accounted for. When Davis was first brought to the stand on the morning of July 21, she testified that she didn't know if Blakely paid back the remaining funds. Evidence shows she gave a similar testimony before a grand jury in July 2019.

After prosecutors finished their initial questioning, Judge Pamela Baschab called for a 75-minute lunch break. When Davis returned, she took to the stand for cross-examination by the defense and remembered Blakely had paid back $945.55, which would spare him the third-degree theft charge currently listed on the 11-count indictment.

Davis began to testify to the existence of a receipt that would prove it, which in turn led to a delay in court proceedings Monday and a hearing today. Prosecutors told Baschab that the receipt should have been included in LSCO's response to their subpoena in 2019 but was never received by the Alabama AG's office.

They submitted another subpoena for the receipt book that would include the receipt Davis discussed in court, and Baschab ordered that court not resume until 1 p.m. Monday to give prosecutors time to review the book.

Recall: 'I don't recall'

Once on the witness stand Monday, Davis testified she didn't keep a copy of everything she sent to the AG's office but maintained she had no reason to hide a receipt that would have kept her boss from being charged unnecessarily with theft.

She said she doesn't remember if he brought back receipts or how it was determined that Blakely would pay back $945 of the $2,500 he had received. She also didn't know if he paid back the $500 from the inmate fund that was sent via wire transfer by another LCSO employee or why he needed the $500 if he had $945 left over from the $2,500 check.

Davis told the court she didn't question Blakely on any of it, either. Prosecutors asked about the two receipts that Davis did include in her response to the original subpoena, but Davis said she couldn't remember what they were for or why she sent those two receipts instead of the full receipt book that she provided last week.

"I thought I did (provide it)," Davis told the court, "because I wouldn't have withheld something I should've sent to you."

Evidence presented Monday before jurors showed a check dated Dec. 28, 2014, for $945.55. Witnesses have previously testified to holding checks for Blakely until they were given the OK to cash them at the bank.

Bank records show Davis visited the bank Dec. 30, 2014, to make a deposit but did not deposit the $945 check until Jan. 6, 2015, though she couldn't say why.

"It could've been on his desk. I could've been out of town," she told jurors. "I can't go back and say what happened in 2014."

Davis said she wrote a receipt to document Blakely paying back the $945, but she did not give him a copy. Instead, she testified, she kept it for her own records and for future audits. She said she didn't know where the receipt is now, but she was sure she had looked for the original after receiving the subpoena for records.

When defense attorneys asked her about the subpoena, Davis admitted she had "worked really hard," including several late nights and weekends, to gather records but that it was possible she had missed a receipt accidentally.

Court to resume Tuesday

After Davis' testimony, prosecutors called on Mark Maclin, who represents the Limestone County Commission on legal matters, to discuss the county's personnel policy — namely whether employees like Davis would be considered "at-will" and thus able to be terminated at any time, for any reason.

Prosecutors have said fear of termination could be one reason why Davis — who is paid for her work as LCSO's chief clerk as well as for her work with the defensive driving school and the rodeo — has participated in the alleged misuse of law enforcement funds and agreed to send Blakely part of her family's emergency savings while he was at a casino.

Davis was adamant in her testimony that it was never out of fear or coercion, and that she has been friends with Blakely since before he became sheriff nearly 40 years ago.

Court adjourned just before 5 p.m. Monday and was set to resume 9 a.m. Tuesday. The News Courier will have additional coverage throughout the week.