Judge Deciding if Killing of Tuscaloosa Officer Was Self-Defense

Almost six years after Luther Bernard Watkins Jr. shot and killed a Tuscaloosa Police Officer, a judge is deciding if he did so in self-defense or if he will face a jury trial for capital murder.

As the Thread has extensively reported, Watkins fatally shot TPD investigator Dornell Cousette in a September 2019 gunfight that also wounded Watkins, and he has been held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond ever since.

READ MORE: Other Coverage of the Watkins Case

Because of turnover on his legal team, the COVID pandemic, a massive felony backlog facing the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's office and more, Watkins has neither pleaded guilty nor faced trial yet, even as the killing nears its six-year anniversary.

Now Circuit Judge Bradley Almond is deciding whether to proceed to that long-awaited trial, or if Watkins is immune from prosecution because he was acting in self-defense. That's the case that Northport defense attorney Gary Blume and his daughter and co-practitioner Rachel Blume laid out during hearings which began on May 1st.

As readers may know, that was the same day President Donald Trump visited Coleman Coliseum for his commencement address.

That significant event and the weeklong murder trial of Michael "Buzz" Davis pulled attention away from the Stand Your Ground hearings earlier this month, but now the decision about Watkins' fate rests in Almond's hands.

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THE CASE FOR SELF-DEFENSE

During the multi-day hearing earlier this month, Gary and Rachel Blume interviewed witnesses and showed evidence to argue that Luther Watkins was defending himself when he shot Investigator Cousette.

The case has many aspects, but centrally, the attorneys are arguing that:

Cousette acted against orders when he tried to arrest Watkins
That he shot first, hitting Watkins once in the back as the robbery suspect fled from him
That he was standing over Watkins' prone body and shot him in the chest at about the same time Watkins fired the bullet that killed Cousette
And as such, Watkins was "well within his right to defend himself with deadly force after being shot in the back by an off-duty police officer helping a bail bondsman [...] in direct contradiction to the orders given by his superior."

That would make the homicide legal under Alabama's Stand Your Ground laws passed in 2013, and he should be immune to prosecution, the attorneys argue.

BEFORE THE SHOOTING

In the hearings and again in a brief written to summarize their case for self-defense, the Blumes relayed the deadly shooting from their perspective.

They said on September 16th, 2019, Watkins was at 1709 33rd Avenue playing cards with friends on the front porch before the deadly encounter with Cousette.

The TPD Investigator was off-duty, but got a tip from a local bail bondsman named Edward Giles about Watkins' location - Watkins was wanted in connection with a local robbery.

In the hearing, Almond heard audio from a police interview with Giles, who said Cousette told him had a history with Luther Watkins as well as his father, Luther Watkins, Sr., and called him an "asshole" before the bail bondsman and police officer agreed to meet up at Central Elementary School in west Tuscaloosa. There, Giles would lead Cousette to Watkins, since he wasn't sure how to describe where he'd seen the 20-year-old robbery suspect.

NO BACKUP AVAILABLE

The Blumes played the September 2019 audio of Investigator Cousette seeking backup as he went to try to arrest Watkins.

A dispatcher told Cousette no backup was available, and there were already three pending cases on the West Side waiting for TPD's response. Cousette asked to speak with a supervisor, and he was "linked" to a police sergeant who provided a typed statement describing their almost four-minute conversation.

"I advised Cousette that patrol didn't have any free units in the area and that he shouldn't go to the location at that time," the sergeant said. "During the conversation, we concluded that he wouldn't go and that he would wait."

Giles also told investigators that Investigator Cousette agreed not to pursue Watkins and was just going to drive by the house on 33rd Avenue so he could note where he'd been seen.

Cousette didn't stick to his plans, the defense attorneys said.

THE SHOOTING

Giles told investigators with the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit that Cousette almost immediately got out of his vehicle directly in front of the house with his gun out and pointed at Luther Watkins. He allegedly said something like "Don't you run," but he never announced his intent to arrest him.

Watkins, 20, got up and fled into the house on 33rd Avenue, and Cousette raced in after him.

Two experts testified earlier this month that they believe Cousette raised his Glock and shot the first of three bullets fired during the brief gunfight that followed.

"Based on all the information reviewed and observations made, the most likely scenario
for the shooting scene was Luther Watkins ran into the house entering the living room
with Officer Dornell Cousette following close behind," concluded forensic consultant Jeff Goudeau. "Officer Cousette discharged his pistol when entering the house, striking Luther Watkins in the back."

"This unprovoked action by Cousette placed Watkins in reasonable fear of the threat of imminent deadly physical force," the defense attorneys said in their brief.

Goudeau said pooling bloodstains suggest Watkins fell and was lying in the doorway of a bedroom when he raised a Hi-Point 9mm handgun and fired a shot back at Cousette.

The Blumes also retained the services of forensic pathologist Paul Uribe, who concluded that Watkins hit Cousette below his left nostril, and the bullet penetrated his skull and damaged his brain.

"In my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the gunshot wound sustained by Dornell Cousette was immediately incapacitating. The most likely scenario was that Officer Cousette fired first, striking Mr.Watkins in the back. Mr. Watkins then turned to face Officer Cousette and they fired nearly simultaneously, with Mr. Watkins struck in the chest and Officer Cousette struck in the head," Uribe wrote. "Mr. Watkins
could not have shot first because it would be impossible for Officer Cousette to return fire with two shots on target after sustaining this immediately incapacitating injury."

Giles told investigators and did not follow Cousette into the house, especially when he heard the gunshots - the bail bondsman was only armed with a Taser. He said he used the radio in Cousette's car to call for backup and saw Luther Watkins, who was wounded but mobile, step over the fallen investigator and flee the scene.

Giles said he got to Cousette soon after, but could tell he was critically wounded.

IMMUNITY ARGUMENT

The Blumes summarized their arguments in a brief submitted to Judge Brad Almond last Thursday.

They said Watkins was acting lawfully before Cousette arrived, when he ran into the residence, and when he armed himself and returned fire.

They also noted that Cousette's actions were inconsistent with the Tuscaloosa Police Department's use-of-force policies. Their case for immunity included a report from a use-of-force expert Chief Dan Busken who concluded, "based on a totality of the circumstances, a reasonable officer would not be justified in believing that Luther Watkins posed a deadly threat, especially once he retreated," the attorneys said.

"The only shot that Watkins fired was done so with the reasonable expectation that Officer Cousette was about to end his life," the Blumes wrote. "As such, the defense has met their burden of reasonable satisfaction and proven by a preponderance of the evidence that Luther Watkins is entitled to immunity from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground Statute."

Judge Almond is continuing to weigh the motion for pre-trial immunity, which would end the capital murder case against him. If Almond denies the motion, it could soon be time to move this case to trial.

For more coverage of this case and other crime and court news from West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.

Editor's note: the original version of this story said the defense used testimony from a TPD Chief - that was based on a misreading of the brief. The report has been updated to reflect that the testimony came from an outside expert, Chief Dan Busken, not a TPD official.