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Alabama death row inmate asks appeals court to block this week’s scheduled execution | CNN

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Alabama death row inmate asks appeals court to block this week’s scheduled execution | CNN




CNN
 — 

An Alabama death row inmate has asked a federal appeals court to stop his execution scheduled for this week, arguing the state hasn’t made sufficient changes to its capital punishment system after problems relating to several other scheduled lethal injections prompted a three-month pause on executions.

Attorneys for James Barber filed the motion to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on his behalf on Friday after a district court judge denied his request for a preliminary injunction to stop his execution by lethal injection, which is scheduled to take place at any time during a 30-hour period starting Thursday morning after midnight, court documents show.

They argued the state has “not made any meaningful improvements to their lethal injection protocol and practices since” an execution and two called-off executions in 2022 – three cases in which they say the Alabama Department of Corrections had trouble properly establishing intravenous lines.

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Barber is set to be the first person executed since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey asked Attorney General Steve Marshall in November to halt all executions and requested a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.”

The request for the review came after problems with the three other cases came into the national spotlight:

• In November, corrections officials halted the scheduled execution of Kenneth Smith after administrators faced issues finding a vein to set an intravenous line, and after officials said they faced time restraints caused by a late-night court battle.

• In September, officials called off Alan Miller’s scheduled execution, citing an inability to meet protocols before a midnight deadline. AL.com reported that after the US Supreme Court ruled the execution by lethal injection could happen, state officials couldn’t access Miller’s veins within time limits.

• In July 2022, Alabama executed Joe Nathan James Jr. by lethal injection. The Death Penalty Information Center has said the execution was delayed for three hours because of difficulties establishing an intravenous line.

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Ivey said in November she did not believe Department of Corrections officials or law enforcement were at fault for recent problems, but that “legal tactics and criminals hijacking the system are at play here.”

In February, she said executions would resume after the Department of Corrections said it completed its review. Among other things, the department said it would add to its pool of available medical personnel for executions, and that it conducted rehearsals to ensure staff were well trained and prepared to carry out their duties during the execution process.

That month, Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm also cited a recent change in the Supreme Court of Alabama rule for scheduling executions, at the governor’s request. The new rule allows the governor to set a “time frame” for the execution to take place, which Hamm said would “make it harder for inmates to ‘run out the clock’ with last-minute appeals and requests for stays of execution.”

In Barber’s appeal, his attorneys argued he faces a “substantial risk of severe harm” due to his elevated body mass index, which they say makes it more difficult to access his veins. They said this complication makes him vulnerable to suffering a failed lethal injection.

Barber – just like Smith and Miller – has asked to be executed by nitrogen gas rather than lethal injection, which would avoid injection into his veins. The Alabama state legislature has approved the use of nitrogen gas, but the state has said it hasn’t yet finalized the protocols.

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The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing to listen to oral arguments in the case on Monday, court records show. It is unclear when a ruling will be made.

A jury convicted Barber in 2003 of murder in the 2001 death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in Harvest, Alabama, court documents show. He was sentenced to death in 2004.



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Alabama

Nick Saban’s daughter weighs in on coaching return rumor

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Nick Saban’s daughter weighs in on coaching return rumor


As SEC media days wrapped up in Atlanta Thursday, its main Alabama football storyline came to a tidy end. Nick Saban’s daughter, Kristen, shut down any hope of her father leaving retirement, in an Instagram story post.

“He’s not coming back to coaching, hate to break it to you,” Kristen Saban wrote. “You had your time.”

The speculation that the 73-year-old man who won six national championships with the Crimson Tide would come out of retirement began Monday. Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said he had heard from someone “in the know” that Saban might not be done coaching, despite leaving his post as UA’s head coach in January of 2024.

McElroy created the news during his radio show on WJOX. Throughout the rest of media days, he tried to put out the fire, noting that he himself did not believe Saban would be unretiring.

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Several coaches were asked about the possibility of Saban returning. Ole Miss head coach and former Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said it wouldn’t surprise him, but Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who had long tenure as the Tide’s defensive coordinator did not sound as if he expected a move from his old boss.

“I heard all that scuttlebutt and everything about it, I almost laughed,” Smart said. “It was like somebody needed something interesting to talk about yesterday, so they chose to go to coach Saban and do it. The game’s better with him involved. He is involved. He is passionate about it. He and I still talk and share ideas from time to time about defensive philosophies and the way to do things.

“And he’s still watching tape and very, very involved in football. He loves it. And his brilliance, as brilliant as he is, is around football. I mean, it’s around scheme. It’s around another way to do something, to stay ahead of the offensive minds. And I think that’s one of the unique talents that he has, and he still loves that. He’s still passionate about that.”

With the return to coaching not happening, Saban will likely continue on his prior retirement trajectory. He won an Emmy for his first season as an analyst on ESPN’s College Gameday pregame show, and will return to the desk this fall.

Saban is also still technically on staff at Alabama, in a consultant role.

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Alabama collects receipts and displays accountability at SEC Media Days 2025

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Alabama collects receipts and displays accountability at SEC Media Days 2025


The kickoff to the upcoming SEC season begins where it will end in December, though the SEC Championship Game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Before toe meets leather to kick off the 2025 slate of football game, players and coaches meet with the media to talk about what lies ahead. Each day, AL.com will provide a daily recap from each day with key moments and interesting nuggets of information you might have missed.

Elephants (and Alabama) never forget…

Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos lit a fuse earlier this summer as saying that “they don’t have Nick Saban to save them”. That sparked anger and fired up current and former Crimson Tide players, well ahead of the Alabama season opener at Florida State.

For the first time since those comments, members of the Alabama football team had to address them with the media present at media days. Alabama defensive tackle Tim Keenan authored a short, but direct response to the FSU transfer QB’s comments saying, “the disrespect will be addressed”.

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Tide linebacker Deontae Lawson also chimed in saying, “all disrespect will be addressed accordingly”.

It remains pretty clear that Alabama has taken Castellanos’ words personally, and any backfield interactions in Week 1 might have a bit more spice to them.

DeBoer talks Alabama standard

It was his first year on the job at Alabama, and despite the nine-win season, Kalen DeBoer knows better.

While taking the main stage at inside the College Football Hall of Fame, Alabama’s head coach addressed the fact that there is a standard at Alabama, of success, in winning bowl games and ultimately, competing for championships. Something they didn’t do last season with a 9-4 record. Something DeBoer put bluntly while talking with the media.

“If you internally ask us, no,” DeBoer said. “We fell short of making the playoffs. It’s as simple as that, right? Giving yourself a chance to go compete for a championship. I think there’s a lot of things that I’m super proud of that have happened within the program that are part of the progression. Yeah, we want it right now, too.”

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The “Alabama standard” has been established, officially. It’s now up to DeBoer, the staff and the players to live up to it over 12 weeks in the fall.

Auburn getting some preseason love from who?!

Throughout the lead up to media days, pundits, experts and armchair experts like to make their picks for who may surprise in a certain league or division.

Usually, it’s a team that finished in the middle and or lower half the previous season. A perfect spot for a team like Auburn to be discussed, right? Correct. That’s not the surprise; it is the person who delivered said surprise.

While handicapping the SEC title contenders, former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy tabbed the Auburn Tigers as his sleeper pick, noting their potential with the weapons on offense and talented defense.

Oklahoma shows love to Arnold

The realities of the transfer portal mean that the bonds you create with teammates may last a year, two years, and if you’re lucky it goes throughout your entire college career.

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For former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold, his time with the OU program lasted two seasons (2023-24) before transferring to Auburn this past spring. When Oklahoma took their place in front of the media, Sooners head coach Brent Venables and the players discussed Jackson at length.

Venables talked about how Arnold handled tough moments and went as far as saying he wanted to keep the new Auburn signal-caller.

When asked about Arnold, former teammate Robert Spears-Jennings remarked about the positive attitude, and R Mason Thomas lauded his professionalism when faced with adversity last season.

Oklahoma and Auburn meet again, this time in Norman, OK on Sept. 20.

Jordan Rodgers gets flashbacks

Being a football player means you’re going to have some hits you don’t remember. Then you have some that you absolutely, positively never forget, and think about so much you wake up in a cold sweat years later.

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He may have not woken up in a cold sweat, but it was clear that Jordan Rodgers remembers when he and Mark Barron met when the former Vanderbilt quarterback played Alabama in 2011.

What to watch on Thursday

Thursday in Atlanta is the final day of SEC Media Days 2025. The teams that will take the stage are Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.

Two schools who are looking to make a breakthrough into the playoff (Missouri, Texas A&M) and two schools with coaches who may need a big season, to return to media days next year in 2026 (Arkansas and Kentucky).

Along with those teams hitting the stage, the preseason predictions for the order of finish and All-SEC preseason teams will be announced soon after. And the only thing left after that is the opening of fall camps, then the season.

Football in the south is on the horizon, just a few more weeks.

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Click the following links for recaps from Monday and Tuesday at SEC Media Days. For more on SEC Media Days, visit AL.com for the latest from Atlanta.

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Nearly 50 arrested following federal search warrants served across Alabama

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Nearly 50 arrested following federal search warrants served across Alabama


MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A complex and years long investigation has led to nearly 50 illegal immigrants being arrested across Alabama.

Federal agents served 14 search warrants in lee, Macon, Elmore, Autauga, Crenshaw and Baldwin counties.

The El Patron Mexican restaurant in Robertsdale was one of the targets.

According to the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Kevin Davidson, these searches led to more than just arrests.

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“Law enforcement recovered distribution amounts of methamphetamine powder, cocaine, crack, cocaine, assorted pills, more than $100,000 of bulk cash, and at least 20 guns,” Davidson said.

At the center of this investigation is Cesar Campos Reyes, who according to FBI Mobile, surrendered himself in Lee County hours after the search warrants were served.

Law enforcement is searching for Cesar Campos Reyes in connection to multiple federal raids in Alabama on Tuesday.(Source: FBI)

According to a federal indictment, Campos Reyes fraudulently obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan by falsely certifying documents tied to restaurants that were raided today. Federal agents say the loan funds totaled around $225,000.

Federal agents also going to other El Patron locations in Wetumpka, Opelika and Prattville.

Campos Reyes is said to be the registered agent for the businesses.

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Steven Schrank, special agent in charge for HSI in Alabama and Georgia, said this investigation has uncovered a bigger issue.

“This operation was not about any one offense. It was about dismantling a criminal ecosystem, one that profits from the exploitation of people in the circumvention of our nation’s laws,” Schrank said. “In many of the locations we investigated, we uncovered, not only unlawful, unauthorized employment of aliens, but evidence that may point to a broader pattern of criminal conduct.”

Schrank also said businesses who knowingly hire non-citizens are creating a path for other problems.

“When employers knowingly hire illegal aliens, they create a magnet for exploitation, wage theft and unsafe conditions,” he said. “They also sidestep labor laws designed to protect workers, and dissuade honest employers. This creates an underground economy that is often tied to organized criminal activity and puts our communities at risk.”

Federal investigators also said Campos Reyes is the registered agent at the El Patron restaurant in Pensacola.

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Although we’re told that business wasn’t raided today, when we stopped by on July 15, a sign on the door said, “closed due to an inconvenience.”

Federal investigators also say Campos Reyes is the registered agent at the El Patron...
Federal investigators also say Campos Reyes is the registered agent at the El Patron restaurant in Pensacola. Although we’re told that business wasn’t raided today, when we stopped by tonight a sign on the door said, “closed due to an inconvenience.”(FOX10 News)



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