UPDATE: Montgomery’s bluelight taxi
Birmingham Police arrested City Councilor Joel Montgomery for public intoxication early Saturday morning, after an officer found him apparently drunk in a parking lot near Cobb Lane on Birmingham’s Southside (and about a block from the South precinct). Montgomery had lacerations to his upper body and face, and paramedics took him to Cooper Green hospital. (See fantabulous mugshot. So that’s what they mean by “shit-faced.”) Later, he was booked at 4:40 a.m. at the Birmingham jail and then released this morning on $200 bond.
There is some confusion as to whether a conviction of this crime would boot Montgomery from the council. Here’s what the Mayor-Council Act, the veritable Birmingham constitution, says on the matter (emphasis added):
Councilmen shall be qualified electors of the city, at least 21 years of age at the time of their election, and shall hold no other public office except that of notary public or member of the National Guard or naval or military reserve. If a councilman shall cease to possess any of these qualifications or shall be convicted of [a] crime involving moral turpitude, his office shall immediately become vacant.
So what is “moral turpitude”? Maybe that depends on whether you’re a Baptist or an Episcopalian, but in the meantime, Councilor Montgomery better find a good lawyer (He has: see UPDATE below). At least one attorney we’ve talked to says that public intoxication does not rise to the threshold of moral turpitude.
As chairman of the Public Safety Committee, Montgomery reviews proposed liquor licenses in Birmingham, and last fall he pushed for a raise for Birmingham police and firefighters. (And this is the thanks he gets?)
UPDATE: Fox 6 is now reporting that Montgomery wil be represented by criminal defense attorney Tommy Spina, who disputes the police report. Fox 6 reports:
According to Spina his client fell and injured himself, and a friend dialed 911 for medical assistance, but a police car arrived and Montgomery was arrested and charged with public intoxication. Montgomery later sought medical help after he was released from the Birmingham jail, Spina said.
According to the police report, Montgomery was arrested at 2:25 a.m. We smell B.S.
Not that there is a good time to take such a stumble, but politically Saturday night might be the worst. Sunday’s Birmingham News will carry his ugly mug to all its subscribers. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Montgomery to show his face, bruises and all, at City Hall. Last year, after his affair with a neighborhood officer from his district became public, Montgomery disappeared for several weeks.
First elected in 2001, Montgomery has long had the nickname “Dr. No” on the council for his penchant of voting against just about anything he doesn’t understand (a lot). Montgomery represents Birmingham Council District 1, and our sources there tell us that there is already a movement underfoot there to oust the councilor, if possible.
We’ll bring you the latest as we learn it. Did you see an angry white fat man wallowing in a Southside parking lot recently? Share and share alike. Send your tips to: kyle@bhamweekly.com
Popularity: 8% [?]
April 7th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Warning: schadenfreude ahead.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
April 8th, 2007 at 1:09 am
I was walking out of the Blue Monkey @ about 2:00 AM Saturday morning and I didn’t see a nasty homophobic councilman getting savagely beaten. But if I had, I’d be sure to stand by and laugh. Er, I mean stop the homophobe from getting his ass beat. Yeh. That’s what I would do.
April 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am
An affair, now an arrest? Sheesh, I almost miss all the drama. What was his camp supposed to say? That, uh, yeah, he WAS drunk and disorderly?
Regardless, if he fell victim to an ass-beating in a drunken brawl or just fell and hit a sidewalk, shouldn’t a person of his position be held to higher standard? Or at least, have enough sense to get falling-down drunk AT HOME?
Joel has definitely fallen from the self-righteous chair he so willingly placed himself back in 2004-05, when then council members Sykes and Miller faced their own troubles.
The mug is an absolute gem. Will be interested in seeing how the hammer falls on this one.
Bham City Council is definitely the gift that keeps on giving! Good one, Kyle!
April 8th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
“A woman who had been with the councilman that evening, whom Spina declined to identify, called 911 to get medical help for Montgomery. But police arrived instead and arrested Montgomery, Spina said.
…Montgomery and the woman had been together in the Southside area since 9:30 or 10 p.m., Spina said. He did not know where they had visited.”
Do you suppose the “unidentified” woman who was with Montgomery Saturday night could be the same neighborhood officer with whom he had the affair? Or is it possible he actually persuaded another woman to “be” with him? That’s mind-boggling.
April 8th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Not sure yet. Heard from a reliable City Hall source today, who spoke anonymously so he wouldn’t get in trouble with his boss, that the officer did what he could to keep the situation under control and get Montgomery into a cab. It was only after Montgomery gave a performance to make Mel Gibson proud that the officer arrested him. According to this source (who wasn’t there) Montgomery cussed out the officer, reminded the officer of who he was (the officer already knew) and later, at the hospital, pushed the officer. Basically, the police did what they could not to arrest Montgomery, but he made it impossible for them not to.
According to this source, the officer found Montgomery sitting on a low wall by Cobb Lane, near the parking lot — not in the middle of it as reported earlier. There was a woman with Montgomery, and Montgomery was covered in blood.
All of this is from one source, not yet verified, so it’s soft information, but the person who gave it to me was in a position to know.
We’ve talked to several people who have been around Joel when he’s drunk and all have given the same story: He doesn’t hold his liquor well. He’s mean, belligerent and obnoxious. Basically it magnifies all of his worst character traits.
It will be interesting to see how he handles this. He could take the Hollywood/Mark Foley route and check into rehab. Or, he could just say “Hey, I was drunk and stupid. It happens.” Either way, though, he has to apologize, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Montgomery say he was wrong about anything.
It’s interesting that Spina is representing Montgomery. Another high-profile attorney in Birmingham, Charlie Waldrep, has represented him in other matters recently.
I was going to go to Montgomery Tuesday to hear Giuliani speak and watch the PAC-to-PAC ban get butchered in committee, but now I have to change my plans.
April 10th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Clearly the South Precinct Birmingham Police officers can’t tell the difference between someone who is drunk and someone who is merely meditating in a bloody shirt on a low wall in a parking lot on Cobb Lane near the Blue Monkey. Since these police officers who can’t seem to identify public intoxication are the very ones who patrol the City of Birmingham’s busiest night life area, they should probably be investigated by an impartial body.
Which impartial body? Maybe…oh…I dunno…the City Council’s Public Safety Committee? Yeah, that’s who!
As a concerned citizen, I demand that as soon as Mr. Montgomery checks himself out of Trinity Medical Center, he should immediately hold Public Safety Committee hearings. The focus of these hearings should be on the Birmingham Police Department’s scandalous infringement on the the rights of law abiding homophobes to meditate while sitting in a bloody shirt on a low wall in a parking lot on Cobb Lane near the Blue Monkey at any time of the day or night with any woman of their choosing!
I mean, really–the idea of it. What are things coming to in this city when a viagra’ed up, white suburban fat guy can’t get drunk in a Five Points lounge with their girlfriend…or rather I mean…when a nice, upstanding community leader can’t have a business meeting with a fellow community leader at Ruby Tuesday’s then meditate in a bloody shirt on a low wall in a parking lot near the Blue Monkey afterward…
AND…to top it off…they didn’t even have the good taste to carry him to to a nice Emergency Room. The very idea! How WILL he explain to his constituents that he now actually has a medical record at Cooper Green! Why I bet Larry Langford is already faxing out copies of the photos taken by the ER attending doctor (you know, the photos documenting the case of extreme priapism that was an unfortunate side effect of the long term meditation in bloody shirt on a low wall in a parking lot on Cobb Lane near the Blue Monkey).
Yes indeed…an investigation of the Birmingham Police Department by the Public Safety Committee of the City Council is DEFINITELY in order!
April 13th, 2007 at 8:28 am
I’ve also heard from a reliable source that he has been to three hospitals, Cooper Green, UAB, and now Trinity. He does not have a broken nose nor did he have surgery for injuries sustained when he kissed the curb on Cobb Lane.
Sure would be nice to get the truth about this.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I have heard from a reliable source that Montgomery has visited three hospitals: Cooper Green, UAB, and Trinity.
His nose is not broken nor has he had surgery from this incident. Personally, I think he is trying to use the city as a scapegoat and have the charges dropped. It would be nice if the ‘real truth’ eventually comes out about this situation.