Tuscaloosa Murder Trial to Start Monday After Judge Declines to Dismiss or Relocate
A murder trial stemming from a shooting that happened more than five years ago will begin on Monday after a Tuscaloosa County judge denied several motions to dismiss the case or change its venue.
19-year-old Schuyler Bradley, a student at Indiana University, was visiting for an Alabama football game against the Georgia Bulldogs. He and his two friends encountered two strangers while both groups were walking down University Boulevard after spending Thursday night partying.
There was a brief altercation; one of the strangers, then-22-year-old Zachary Profozich, reportedly drew a .357 revolver and shot Bradley in the stomach. Bradley was rushed to DCH Regional Medical Center, but did not survive. Profozich reportedly fled the scene and ditched the gun before he was arrested and ultimately charged with murder after Bradley died.
The case has gotten no shortage of publicity because the deadly shooting occurred before the passage of Aniah’s Law in Alabama, so Profozich was granted bail and released on bond on the same day he was charged with murder. Days later, District Judge James Gentry granted a motion allowing Profozich to leave Tuscaloosa and move in with his parents in Orange County, California, until the case goes to trial. That was five and a half years ago.
Now, the jury trial is set to finally begin on Monday, May 11th, and Circuit Judge Allen May met with prosecutors and defense attorneys in his courtroom Thursday afternoon for one last hearing before voir dire and jury selection begin.
There, he heard mostly motions in limine, meaning 'at the outset,' over what is allowed to be said, discussed or presented as evidence during the trial. Prosecutors, for instance, don’t want any mention to the jury of how long it has taken to bring this matter to trial, which they said has nothing to do with Profozich's innocence or guilt. Defense attorneys, led by Mary Turner, sought their own concessions, including a request that no one be allowed to call Bradley the "victim."
May granted the motion in the first example, denied the second and gave both sides a mixed bag in their other in limine requests.
Turner and fellow defense attorney Joel Sogol also filed and argued for a change of venue and made two requests to have the case thrown out, all of which May denied.
He also denied issuing a gag order barring Bradley’s family from discussing the cause with the press, which the Thread mistakenly reported last month was already in effect.
Prosecutors argued, and Judge May agreed, that the voir dire process is designed specifically to get rid of any potential jurors who come in knowing too much about the case.
She filed one motion to dismiss the case for how prosecutors allegedly spoke to a witness - the friend who was with Profovich at the time of the altercation. They also filed another motion to dismiss after body camera footage from the night in question reportedly went missing.
Judge May denied both motions, saying neither issue met the very high threshold to dismiss the case.
With the final hurdles cleared, voir dire is expected to begin Monday, with the first witnesses called Tuesday.
For daily coverage from the murder trial and more exclusive crime and courts news from West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.