Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has affirmed the conviction of William Earl Latham, age 71, for first-degree aggravated stalking in Lawrence County. The decision was released on October 7, 2022.
AG Marshall said, “William Earl Latham received a 20-year prison sentence for his repeated stalking and abusive behavior toward his former wife. In the past, stalking offenders like Latham would have received minimal, if any, prison time for this kind of terrorizing behavior. As underscored by this sentence, Alabama now imposes severe penalties for aggravated stalkers.”
Latham and his wife/victim were married for many years. According to evidence presented in the trial, during the marriage, Latham began physically abusing his wife. In 2020, she sought a protection from abuse order which Latham repeatedly violated. The prosecutors showed that eventually, Latham’s threatening and abusive behavior led to a dangerous altercation which resulted in an automobile accident.
Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett’s office prosecuted the case and obtained a guilty verdict from the jury on February 3, 2022. Latham was convicted and received a 20-year prison sentence for first-degree aggravated stalking of his former wife. Latham’s subsequent 20-year sentence is one of the most severe imposed for aggravated stalking in the state.
Latham appealed his conviction to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process. The AG’s office successfully argued that Latham’s conviction be affirmed. The Court did so in a decision issued October 7, 2022.
Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General John J. Davis and law clerk Jeremiah Johansen for their successful work on this case and thanked Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett and his staff for their valuable assistance in defending the first-degree aggravated stalking conviction.
According to a study by the CDC, one out of six women and one out of 19 men have been stalked in their lifetimes. 66% of women who were stalked were stalked by a former husband or cohabitating partner. 81% of those stalked by a former husband or cohabitating partners were assaulted, and 31% were sexually assaulted. 54% of women killed by their stalker had previously reported the stalker to the police.
Marshall is a former Marshall County District Attorney. He was appointed AG in 2017 by then-Gov. Robert Bentley. He was elected to his own term in office in 2018 and is seeking a second term. He faces Democratic nominee Tarrant Police Chief Wendell Major in the November 8 general election.
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