By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on March 31, 2018
Without commenting on whether the death of Adam Bailey is or is not under active investigation, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a motion in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court on March 29, 2018 to quash a subpoena issued by Victoria Love for his office’s investigative files in the Adam Bailey murder case. Ms. Love filed a lawsuit on December 28, 2017, against Tim Bailey, Adam’s father, and local Justice for Adam Bailey activist, Laurie Beth Kesterson, claiming that the pair harassed and defamed her by posting “false allegations” about her on Tim Bailey’s personal Facebook page and on a Justice for Adam Bailey Facebook page.
Ms. Love’s subpoena seeks production of: (a) “Any and all statements, transcripts, tapes, recordings of James Timothy Bailey . . .”; (b) “Any and all documents, records, writings, or tangible things of any kind evidencing or pertaining to an investigation into the death of Adam Bailey . . . or into an investigation into James Timothy Bailey”; (c) “Any and all investigative reports, results, summaries, notes, photographs or videos concerning an investigation into the death of Adam Bailey . . .”; (d) “Any and all correspondence addressed to the Attorney General for the State of Alabama from James Timothy Bailey”; and (e) “Any and all correspondence addressed to the Attorney General for the State of Alabama from any other person concerning an investigation into the death of Adam Bailey.”
The AG claims the information and items subpoenaed by Ms. Love are investigatory materials protected from disclosure by the Law Enforcement Investigation Privilege. Information protected from disclosure includes “law enforcement techniques and procedures,” information that would undermine “the confidentiality of sources," information that would endanger “witness and law enforcement personnel [or] the privacy of individuals involved in an investigation,” and information that would “otherwise . . . interfere [ ] with an investigation,” according to the AG.
Bailey and Kesterson Deny Victoria Love’s Claims of Harassment
Tim Bailey and Laurie Beth Kesterson have denied all of the allegations in Ms. Love’s lawsuit. They are vigorously defending themselves against her claims of harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy, tortious interference with her business relationship, negligence, wantonness, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In her court filings, Ms. Kesterson says the lawsuit seeks to (a) restrict the exercise of her free speech rights and (b) chill the public’s “speech and debate” on matters of significant public interest (i.e., Adam Bailey’s homicide, Victoria Love’s witness interview in the Adam Bailey homicide investigation, the adequacy of the police investigation of this homicide, drug trafficking in Tuscaloosa, etc.).
Ms. Kesterson has characterized this lawsuit as a First Amendment freedom of speech case because it arises out of her responsible and reasonable exercise of her right to “speech and debate” on social media about a matter of significant public interest – the 2016 homicide case involving Adam Bailey. According to Ms. Kesterson, her right to free speech is guaranteed in Section 4 of the Alabama Constitution (1901) and under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Victoria Love is a Material Witness in the Adam Bailey Homicide Investigation
Victoria Love is a material witness in the August 2016 homicide case involving Adam Bailey that occurred in Tuscaloosa County. Bailey, a 24-year-old Northport, Alabama, man who was murdered by a group of Tuscaloosa, Alabama drug traffickers. This homicide was investigated by two Tuscaloosa area law enforcement agencies, with no arrest in the case.
Adam’s death has also been investigated by the Alabama AG’s Office. It is unknown whether the AG's investigation is ongoing.
Victoria Love, 21, was the last person with Adam Bailey before he became extremely ill and passed out from an overdose of GHB that was unobtrusively administered to him while he was in the presence of Caleb Legrone on the night of August 7, 2016. Ms. Love drove Adam to his Northport home after she noticed his deteriorating physical condition. She never called 911 for medical assistance once she noticed Adam’s condition. Instead, she talked to Legrone on a cellphone and left Adam alone in a truck outside of his home.
At some point after Adam passed out, he was strangled. Post mortem photographs show the presence of clearly visible choke marks on both sides of his neck. Brett Patrick Davis, a close friend and drug-trafficking partner of Caleb Legrone, has admitted that Legrone made the choke marks on Adam’s neck.
Legrone, who rushed to Adam Bailey’s house after talking to Victoria Love, was the last person with Adam before he flatlined at his home. After Northport police and paramedics were called to the home, Adam was taken to DCH Medical Center where he was placed on life-support for nearly a week.
While Adam was lying in a comatose state at the hospital, Legrone sent Victoria Love a text message stating that he (Legrone) had made up a false story to cover up for what really happened to Adam on the night he was drugged and strangled.
Cell phone extraction records from Ms. Love’s phone showed that she made/received calls and sent/received text messages and IMG images that were transmitted from 176 different cell phone tower locations in three states between August 6 and 9, 2016.
Love’s Criminal Case Against Tim Bailey Ended in a “Not Guilty” Verdict On November 12, 2017, Victoria Love went to the Tuscaloosa Police Department and made a criminal complaint about alleged Harassing Communications directed toward her by Tim Bailey. According to the TPD police file, Victoria Love claimed Tim Bailey harassed her because he posted “false allegations” about her on his personal Facebook page and on a Justice For Adam Bailey Facebook page.
Investigator Ritamarie H. Thomason, the lead TPD officer in the case, noted that Tim Bailey did not call Victoria on her phone or appear at her home. After reviewing the Facebook postings that Victoria Love and her father provided her, Thomason repeatedly wrote, “I did not note any threat to Love.”
Bailey’s Facebook posts encouraged Victoria Love to be forthcoming with police about what really happened to Adam the night he was murdered. Tim Bailey also promised that he would use the legal system to seek justice for his son's murder. Finally, Tim Bailey stated that he would protect Victoria Love from any harm that those who murdered his son might cause her.
Following a trial in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court on March 22, 2018, Judge Rickey J. McKinney issued the following ruling on March 30, 2018: “After careful deliberation of the testimony and the evidence presented, the Court finds the Defendant not guilty.” With those words, the criminal case against Tim Bailey was over. He is once again a free man.
Meanwhile, Tim Bailey’s pursuit of justice for Adam Bailey continues.
PHOTO: Adam Bailey was placed on life-support on August 8, 2016 after he flatlined at his Northport, Alabama home under suspicious circumstances. Adam was taken off life-support on August 14, 2016. His death has been investigated by three law enforcement agencies. To date, no arrest has been made in his case.
PHOTO: Victoria Love was interviewed by Tuscaloosa police on August 14, 2016 about her involvement in the Adam Bailey homicide case.
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This is what We have been waiting for and I have been waiting to come out. There is much much more and evidence that we are all waiting to come out to help resolve the death of Adam Bailey, this is why I did not see why we were in court in the first place. I know the Judge will rule by the law as he has been I trust in him to rule by the law, This should be thrown out. Frivolous law suit. The only way to obtain money is to work hard and make it.