Alabama judge refuses dismissal in Confederate chair theft
An Alabama judge has refused to dismiss an indictment against a New Orleans tattoo artist accused in a bizarre theft in which a chair-shaped Confederate monument was taken from a cemetery and held for ransom. Dallas County Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. refused to dismiss charges of theft and receiving stolen property against Jason Warnick, 33, in a brief decision released Thursday. The judge rejected defense claims that there were problems with the indictment charging Warnick in the disappearance last year of a chair-shaped monument to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from 200-year-old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma. Warnick also claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him, but the judge refused to dismiss the charge. Warnick was set to go on trial on Monday, but Pettaway delayed the case and scheduled a hearing for June 16. Placed at the cemetery in 1893 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the chair vanished from its base last year in Selma, which was a Confederate arsenal during the Civil War and also is widely known as the site of voting rights demonstrations by Black activists in the 1960s. An email claiming to be from a group called White Lies Matter claimed responsibility and said the chair would be returned only if the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed to display a banner at its Virginia headquarters bearing a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist. The email also included images of a fake chair with a hole cut in the seat like a toilet and a man dressed in Confederate garb. Authorities who arrested Warnick said the real chair was spotted at his tattoo parlor in New Orleans, where he was charged with receiving stolen property before the case was dismissed. Warnick is innocent and had never been to Selma before he went to the city to surrender on the theft charge, the defense argues. The chair, which the United Daughters of the Confederacy valued at $500,000, was returned to the cemetery and glued to its base. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama trial delayed for New Orleans man in monument theft
A judge has delayed the trial of a New Orleans man charged with stealing a chair-shaped Confederate monument from an Alabama cemetery in a bizarre ransom scheme. Jason Warnick had been scheduled to stand trial next month in Selma on charges of theft and receiving stolen property, but Dallas County Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. recently rescheduled the case until May 9 at the request of the defense, court documents show. One of Warnick’s attorneys underwent surgery after being injured in a motorcycle crash and would have a difficult time traveling for the trial, the defense said in its request. Warnick, 33, was charged last year following the theft of a chair-shaped memorial that was taken from a cemetery in Selma. Warnick is innocent, his attorney has said. The case began last spring when news outlets began receiving emails with an unusual ransom demand involving a chair-shaped monument honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The memorial was placed in the cemetery by the United Daughters of the Confederacy about 130 years ago. A message claiming to be from a group called White Lies Matter said the chair would be returned only if the heritage group agreed to display a banner at its Virginia headquarters bearing a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist. The email also included images of a fake chair with a hole cut in the seat like a toilet and a man dressed as a Confederate soldier. New Orleans police said they found the real chair undamaged and arrested Warnick, who has a tattoo shop in New Orleans, and two others. Louisiana prosecutors dropped a charge of possession of stolen property against Warnick and the others, but Alabama prosecutors are moving ahead with the case against Warnick. The chair has since been returned to Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, where it was secured to its base with glue. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
