1. Bama, I admire you greatly, but the TD said Mr. Keeton, aged 76, has a gash that required 5 stitches--that's not a little cut. I know of no medical personnel who would stitch such a wound if it didn't require it. I understand the difference between a pipe and a rebar, and I wouldn't want to be hit with either one. Obviously Hunt was not choir boy.

2. Both men acted through emotion, not common sense. Neither one was innocent; however, I cannot fathom a 40 year old man who can't fend off a 76 year old without hitting him with a large piece of metal (if he needed to fend him off at all).

3. Keeton didn't just go to the school and take the children. If that had been the case, he would have also been charged with kidnapping.

4. The TD states his bond is 120K, not 60K. Someone apparently thinks enough of Mr. Keeton to have paid a bondsman 12K or put up 120K in property.

5. Do I think Keeton was wrong? You betcha, but the judge has allowed him his freedom while his appeal is pending. Sweetie should contact the judge if she doesn't agree with his decision and see what he has to tell her.

It was my understanding that Neler was not on the list to pick up the children and the school probably could have gotten in to trouble if the family had pushed it, but being the christian people that Tony's family are, nothing was even done about that. And Neler has property and also rental property, I assume he posted his own bond. And as for your comment Firenz, about you "cannot fathom a 40 year old man who can't fend off a 76 year old without hitting him with a large piece of metal (if he needed to fend him off at all)." Well, apparently you know nothing about Neler and the things he's done in the past, he's even got up in Tony's new wife's face backing her up in a corner threatening her. If he was up in my face and wouldn't let me by to get my child and threatening me, I would have hit him with something too!! I wouldn't care how old he is! He's lucky Tony's new wife's father didn't beat the crap out of him when he was threatening her! And if Tony was the type of person you apparently are portraying him to have been, he would HAVE knocked the h*** out of him after that happened but all Tony said was "he's old and has a lot of anger, just let it go and don't open the door again when you are here alone."

My Point was as Tony was going to Keeton's truck to get his son, Keeton reached in the back of his truck got the rebar & came at Tony , as Tony was taking the rebar away it did hit Keeton in the head , after Tony got control of the rebar he throwed it 10 to 15 feet away into a shed , they showed a picture of the rebar being in the shed floor. Keeton on the stand told that is how the rebar got there. If Tony had intended to hurt Keeton , that is when he would have . Keeton ran into his house got his gun, Tony went to his truck. Keeton could have called 911 , but did not he came out & shot Tony 2 to 3 times . This was a horrible thing for the familys. Just my Opinion , because of Keetons age is why he did not get a Murder Conviction . I never knew either one of these familys before, but have gotten to know the Hunts , & I have a lot of repect for them .

I agree that Keeton behaved in a juvenile, wreckless, and illegal manner. He in all probability deserves the 20 year sentence, since he can be paroled in as little as 7 years or less with the right connections. It should be noted that Mr. Keeton's defense attorney speculated the 8 year-old girl was being sexually abused by Hunt.

As for Hunt's family, the language they have used on here speaks volumes about them.

Why have they now come on here, five months after the trial, and questioned Mike Jones' ruling concerning Mr. Keeton's bail?

This will be my last Post on this, but most Defense Attorneys Speculate on a lot of things, most no truth to them, Bet your bottom dollar if anything to it ,a Defence Attorney would have somthing more than Speculation ! They will do & say a lot of things with no Facts to back it up . DHR or the Courts never found anything to what the Defense Attorney may have been Speculating on.

quote:

Originally posted by FirenzeVeritas:
1. Bama, I admire you greatly, but the TD said Mr. Keeton, aged 76, has a gash that required 5 stitches--that's not a little cut. I know of no medical personnel who would stitch such a wound if it didn't require it. I understand the difference between a pipe and a rebar, and I wouldn't want to be hit with either one. Obviously Hunt was not choir boy.

2. Both men acted through emotion, not common sense. Neither one was innocent; however, I cannot fathom a 40 year old man who can't fend off a 76 year old without hitting him with a large piece of metal (if he needed to fend him off at all).

Ugh. FV, normally I can somewhat get what you are saying, but it seems like you are defending the piece of trash that murdered Mr. Hunt.

Yes, I said it, murdered. He may have not been convicted of that- which I find dispicable- but to me, he murdered Tony. Tony was LEAVING the situation, he was not Guilty OF anything. Mr. Keeton went into his house, retrieved his gun, and shot Tony in the back. That's enough for me to know Mr. Keeton is guilty.

I don't know why the jury decided what they did. Possibly because he was an old guy, but to say that NEITHER man was innocent, just totally disgusted me.

Tony is no longer here to defend himself. To say that about a murder victim, is just wrong. *shakes head*

His family has every right to come in here and question things. That's not unusual. What is glaringly obvious though, is that you seem to support Mr. Keeton in some ways- either that or you're not meaning to come across as Crass as you sound. I don't know which applies.

If you are basing this on what a defense attorney 'theorized' then that's not enough. Defense attorneys would theorize whatever they can about a victim to help their client. It's called trying to relay reasonable doubt. *shakes* It doesn't /have/ to be true, and since the victim is dead- he can't defend himself.

Experiencing a family member or friend being murdered, is one of the hardest things anyone ever has to go through. The emotions, and the knowing that it was needless is enough to break spirits. There never is closure- even if the monster is locked away for life.

Tony's family continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

~Amanda

I think what is being pointed out is that Hunt hit first. That does not make him a nice man. Keeton was tried for murder. If the jury had agreed with that, they would have convicted him of it. They didn't and they convicted him of manslaughter. I don't understand either why this Hunt family is bringing it all up again.

quote:

Originally posted by FirenzeVeritas:
I agree that Keeton behaved in a juvenile, wreckless, and illegal manner. He in all probability deserves the 20 year sentence, since he can be paroled in as little as 7 years or less with the right connections. It should be noted that Mr. Keeton's defense attorney speculated the 8 year-old girl was being sexually abused by Hunt.

As for Hunt's family, the language they have used on here speaks volumes about them.

Why have they now come on here, five months after the trial, and questioned Mike Jones' ruling concerning Mr. Keeton's bail?

I agree with Amanda that you seem to be defending Keeton. Mr. Hunt was shot IN THE BACK! He had no choice to defend himself.

Speculation the 8 year-old girl was being sexually abused by Hunt??
Was any proof presented? Sounds like a ploy to me to make Keeton look like the good guy. Keeton should not be on the streets, he should be behind bars!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FirenzeVeritas:
He in all probability deserves the 20 year sentence,

Probability???? He definitely deserves 20 years if not more.

quote:

Originally posted by ShugaPush:
I think what is being pointed out is that Hunt hit first. That does not make him a nice man. Keeton was tried for murder. If the jury had agreed with that, they would have convicted him of it. They didn't and they convicted him of manslaughter. I don't understand either why this Hunt family is bringing it all up again.

Keeton got the rebar out of the truck to hit Tony. Tony hit him while taking it out of his hands. He then threw it over into a shed. IF TONY had wanted, he could have beat the old man senseless.... He didn't- what doesn't add up there for ya'll?

Keeton, ran into his house- he could have called the police, and then your idealogy would make sense. Tony would have been most probably charged. However, Keeton didn't do that. Keeton went in, and in a vigilante justice, wild west kind of way, shot Tony down in cold blood.

Does it excuse Tony hitting him, maybe not, but the two events are not equal. They DON'T add up, and even thinking they do- is mind boggling. Tony was leaving the situation. He was leaving- that is enough to gather the severity of this.

You're right the jury didn't convict on Murder. They probably should have, but as I said- they probably felt sorry for the old man. I wouldn't have, especially based on his angry outbursts, but then I wasn't on the jury either.

Mr. Hunt's family has every right to be on here and ask questions. If it were your family, wouldn't you do the same? I think so.

Just to clarify, I am not a part of the family- still to say that they shouldn't be on here? Why are you replying? Are you a member of this situation? No, probably not.

Everyone is welcome on a public forum.


~Amanda

I'm not from Alabama originally, but I think the laws are pretty much the same in most states. I didn't say the old man was innocent. He was guilty of something, only God knows what exactly. As for what the attorney said, I read the old stories and saw where the children's advocacy unit had been brought in. They must have thought something was wrong there. That does not excuse Keeton.

The Hunt family can come on here just like I can. I'm sure they've lived here much longer than I have. I just don't know what they want. What can anyone do. Do they want us to write of call the judge. They didn't say that. I don't know why the judge would even listen to any of us. He made his ruling last year. Why is the family bringing this up again.

quote:

Originally posted by ShugaPush:
I'm not from Alabama originally, but I think the laws are pretty much the same in most states. I didn't say the old man was innocent. He was guilty of something, only God knows what exactly. As for what the attorney said, I read the old stories and saw where the children's advocacy unit had been brought in. They must have thought something was wrong there. That does not excuse Keeton.

The Hunt family can come on here just like I can. I'm sure they've lived here much longer than I have. I just don't know what they want. What can anyone do. Do they want us to write of call the judge. They didn't say that. I don't know why the judge would even listen to any of us. He made his ruling last year. Why is the family bringing this up again.

From what I can gather, they are just wanting some support. Or maybe for people to know, since I haven't seen any newer threads/news on this. Maybe that's why.

When someone loses a person like they did, it's hard for them to rationalize things, or to understand. I applaud them for it. Sometimes questioning, or talking about it, even on a forum, can help them. It's theraputic in a way. I don't think they came here wanting to argue with people or thinking it would start any arguing.

I wish no one ever had to go through something like this. I have, and it is definitely something that words cannot adequately express. The loss, the anguish, the anger, the hurt, the pain, the love, and the what if's, really can take a hold.

As for the advocacy unit being brought in, I can't speak about- I don't know. I would think, however, that if an accusation is made, that they would investigate it. Since I haven't heard any findings, I assume that nothing was found?

It confuses the issue though, where a man took another man's life, for seemingly no reason.

~Amanda

First, Manda, I'm sorry you have lost a loved one to violence. I had no idea about this. Just for the record, several years ago a cousin of mine was the victim of an armed robbery and lost his life. As for me defending Keeton, I was not. I used some adjectives in a previous post concerning him, and I will go even farther, but no farther being a lady, and say that he was a bloomin' idiot. He should have called the police when Hunt struck him, but similary Hunt should have called the police if Keeton had illegal custody of the son/grandson.

Tac, I believe you thought Don Siegelman should be allowed bail during the appeal process, so why shouldn't Keeton? Neither is a flight risk.

As for the topic at hand, AnnieBell posted last night questioning why Keeton is free. He is free because Judge Mike Jones allowed him to be during the appeal process. He made this ruling last October. Nothing has changed. To the Hunt family, if you know of any illegal activity Keeton has been involved in since then, you should report it. I'm sure Judge Jones will revoke his bail.

Please understand, a jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, and Mike Jones, not one of my favorite people most of the time, set an appeal bond because the law under the circumstances requires that he be given an appeal bond. The jury did their job and the judge did his. Now, I understand that it will be a miracle if the conviction is not overturned. There were real problems with the State's case. If he gets a new trial, it will only be for manslaughter because he has been acquitted of murder. Let the justice system do its job and try healing youselves and those that are left behind.

"SOME" of the comments on this post makes me want to throw up!!!!

OMG, if ANYONE and I MEAN ANYONE had of gone to school and gotten one of MY kids without permission, I would have gone to find my child. ANYONE who thinks a scared parent thinks things through is sadly mistaken!!!

Tony Hunt did NOT deserve to die. He went for his child. Neeler got the rebar to START a fight, Tony took it away and proceeded to get his child WHO HE HAD CUSTODY OF!!!!

If Neeler was afraid in ANY way he could have called 911, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOO, he didn't do that, he got a GUN and murdered his grandchild's father right in front of the child.

Manslaughter???? SICKENING!!!!

I could care LESS what anyone says taking up for a murderer, I don't like the fact this man, who has proven to be a loose cannon, is walking the streets myself, and I don't even know him.

I think the Judge did a the ONLY thing he could have done and that was to set the bond, and he set it at the highest amount for manslaughter he could. Shows me HE really didn't want him to be able to get out.

Bamafantk, thank you for reporting from the court room, that is not speculation, it is the truth, and that is what some people need to not only hear, but to LISTEN TO.

As far as whoever said that Neeler said "OVER MY DEAD BODY", it is not hearsay if in a new trial, the person who heard him say it testifies to it and I would PRAY TO GOD that is what would happen.

Maybe his next jury won't be so nice.

Kindred, I agree with what you say, except for two points.

1. If he's tried again, he can be tried for only manslaughter, or less. 20 years is the maximum sentence for manslaughter. Bubbaluck seems to have some inside information here concerning the actions of the prosecution and what their shortcomings have been in this matter. I assume he's a Juris Doctor.

2. I would think Judge Jones could have set the bail much higher than 120K if he had wished. He knew Mr. Keeton had already posted the 60K preconviction charge bail--would 120K be that difficult for his friends and family?

I am curious about one or two other things concerning this case, since the Hunt camp has reopened the topic. I will ask about only one here: why did Mr. Keeton take the boy from school to drive him to a Little League game? Was this something Hunt opposed and why? A ten year-old boy should be allowed to play baseball!