Defense questions credibility of prosecutor’s witness Trent Willis

LIMESTONE CO., Ala. (WAFF) - A juror is out and the defense is on! That is just some of what happened in Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely’s trial Tuesday.

A juror is now gone because she has a relationship with an inmate and discussed the case with him. A jail worker and two inmates who heard of this testified on this before the judge before the jury returned from lunch. The judge immediately dismissed the juror in question.

The judge also dismissed one of Blakely’s charges, and the defense took aim at the credibility of a prosecution’s witness - Trent Willis from Red Brick Strategies. Willis testified last week about his involvement with Blakely’s campaign. When the defense cross-examined him, they did a lot of digging into his credibility and character, and Tuesday was no different.

A former employee of Willis, Dustin Timbrook, testified that he found out Willis was never paying for his health insurance, even though it was being taken out of his paycheck. Timbrook said when he went public about his experience, he received legal and death threats from Willis.

Then, Representative Ritchie Whorton took the stand. Red Brick Strategies worked on Whorton’s campaign, and he found out in 2018 that around one hundred thousand dollars was missing from his campaign. Whorton said Willis admitted to stealing this. Whorton said he has not yet received an update on the investigation the Attorney Generals office is conducting for this.

Finally, Steve Raby testified and was deemed an expert in Alabama elections and campaigns. He says it is common for errors to be made in local campaign reports, and also for money to be given to the candidate personally.

All of the defense’s witnesses that had experiences with Willis testified that they would not believe anything he says under oath. So far, the defense is going through witnesses very quickly as compared to the state. WAFF will be in the courtroom as the rest of this historic trial unfolds.

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