Judge Rejects Self-Defense Claim from Tuscaloosa Police Officer’s Killer

A circuit judge has denied a motion to dismiss the capital murder charge against a man who said he was acting in self-defense when he killed a Tuscaloosa Police officer almost six years ago.

As the Thread reported extensively on Monday, Circuit Judge Brad Almond has been weighing whether to dismiss the charge filed against Luther Bernard Watkins, Jr. for the September 2019 death of TPD Investigator Dornell Cousette.

READ MORE: Judge Deciding if Killing of Tuscaloosa Police Officer Was Self-Defense

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Attorneys for Watkins argued in a hearing earlier this month and in a brief summarizing it that when Cousette tried to arrest Watkins almost six years ago, he was off-duty and  acting against orders from his superiors to wait for backup.

They also shared the opinion of two separate forensic experts who said Cousette shot the young man in the back as Watkins ran away from him, and the only bullet Watkins fired came as he lay on the ground, with Cousette standing over him to shoot him a second time.

Defense attorneys argued those shots came almost simultaneously, with Watkins shot in the chest and Cousette hit in the head.

"The only shot that Watkins fired was done so with the reasonable expectation that Officer Cousette was about to end his life," the attorneys wrote in their brief. "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."

On Tuesday morning, Judge Almond denied their motion for pre-trial immunity based on self-defense.

Almond's five-page denial said that the motion from attorneys Gary Blume, Rachel Blume and Laura Fikes hinges on Watkins' meeting definitions outlined in Alabama law that says a person must "not [be] engaged in unlawful activity" in order to be justified in using deadly force in self-defense.

The defense team said Watkins was "retreating" from Investigator Cousette when he ran from the porch on 1709 33rd Avenue and into the home where he was pursued and then shot.

Judge Almond sees it differently.

"The court finds that, given the totality of the evidence at the hearing and as guided by the evolution of the Alabama self-defense statute, the Defendant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was engaged in lawful conduct based on a stand-your-ground self-defense argument," Almond wrote. "The Defendant's conduct can reasonably be described to fit one or either of the offenses of Attempting to Elude or Resisting Arrest - which is unlawful activity - thus not entitling him to immunity from prosecution."

Almond said Watkins and his lawyers also failed to prove the matter on a common law basis.

"He knew he had outstanding warrants for violating bond conditions and he fled from Cousette, who was wearing his TPD uniform," Almod said. "Though the defendant characterizes this conduct as a 'retreat,' the more persuasive view of the evidence is that the Defendant was attempting to elude or resisting arrest."

The motion was denied, and Watkins will remain in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he has been held without bond since September 2019.

The case is tentatively set for a jury trial meant to begin on September 2nd, 2025. Watkins and his legal team will still be able to pursue self-defense at that time if they so choose.

For more coverage of crime & court news in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.