Staff Reports
FORT PAYNE — Nick Jones, the president of Southern Torch, is the defendant in the criminal mural case in Fort Payne Municipal Court. Jones is asking the city judge, Glenn Shedd, to remove the city’s prosecutor Stephen Bussman from his case. The filed motion alleges a pattern of personal bias and public attacks that, Jones argues, make a fair prosecution impossible.
Jones filed the motion to recuse on Tuesday seeking to disqualify Bussman from further involvement in the case, citing what they describe as “sustained and virulent personal animus” toward Jones.
“We have informally asked (Steve) Bussman to recuse himself from this case and he has chosen not to respond. So the next step for us is to ask the court to remove him,” Jones remarked. “We feel really good about litigating the First Amendment merits of this case, but the city needs to find a lawyer that does not have a crazed, personal obsession with me,” stated Jones.
Jones is currently charged with violating a municipal ordinance 44-559 under Fort Payne city code after the city’s enforcement officer Nick Brown says that Jones’ property is in violation because of the two murals painted on the north side of the building. The property and murals in question are located at the Southern Torch building in downtown Fort Payne.
In the motion, Jones alleges that Bussman made numerous public statements on social media targeting Jones, including calling him a “fraud,” accusing him of dishonesty, and using derogatory nicknames. The filing also claims Bussman publicly declared Jones “guilty” in connection with a separate matter.
“The evidence of bias is not subtle,” the motion states. “A prosecutor who has done these things cannot, as a matter of law, be trusted to exercise his discretion in a disinterested fashion.
The defense argues that such conduct violates Jones’ constitutional right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which require that criminal prosecutions be handled by an impartial prosecutor. The motion cites multiple court precedents that emphasizes the legal standard that prosecutors must act as neutral ministers of justice rather than advocates driven by personal interests.
The filing also references case law that suggests that the same standards used to disqualify a judge — including personal bias — can apply to prosecutors.
According to the motion, the statements in question were made during a prior political period when Jones was a candidate for public office. However, the defense argues that the political context does not excuse the conduct or eliminate concerns about impartiality in the current case.
“Whatever the original motivation for these statements, [Bussman] has demonstrated that he views Mr. Jones not as a defendant entitled to due process, but as a personal adversary,” the motion states.
Jones is asking the court to appoint a “disinterested substitute prosecutor” to handle the case moving forward, arguing that no lesser remedy would adequately protect Jones’ rights.
Fort Payne mayor Brian Baine was contacted for comment on the ongoing criminal mural case, but declined to comment.
Fort Payne attorney and city prosecutor Stephen Bussman was contacted at his office for comment, but the Times Journal did not receive a call back from Bussman.
Currently, the case has been postponed indefinitely pending motion from either party to set a new court date.
