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...In a Handbasket: Monday night's embarrassing police action on a home in suburban Montgomery got a fairly comical punctuation Tuesday evening when Desmonte Leonard strolled into a Montgomery courthouse and turned himself in peacefully. He has now been formally charged with three counts of capital murder, and three counts of assault (although the grand jury could amend those three charges to attempted murder), and will be held without bond.
Leonard will be represented on the state's dime by attorney Susan James, who (without having yet accepted him as a client) helped arrange his surrender after being reached out to by Leonard's family. My pals who happen to be members of the Alabama Bar are all familiar with and complimentary of James, who has previously represented former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman; to paraphrase one, "She's not taking this case just for publicity, she doesn't need to." Initially expected to be held in Lee County pending trial, the court has approved Leonard's transfer back to Montgomery in the face of probably-valid concerns about his safety.
Of course, those concerns are inextricably tied to a bizarre movement on the internet; a large number of people seem to thing that blowing a few people away is an appropriate response to being afraid you're going to get the crap kicked out of you after starting a fight. Indeed, James seemed fairly convinced of Leonard's "innocence" while addressing the media within the last hour (H/T once again to Jay Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser, who continues to provide stellar live-tweet coverage of the case). I am presuming her statement means she intends to prove justifiable homicide, which of course dovetails with the internet uproar in defense of Leonard. I think, perhaps, these folks are missing something important: if he hadn't brought the gun to begin with, he probably wouldn't have started the confrontation, and thus wouldn't have been in any danger of getting a beatdown. Funny, that.
This 1000% Thing Is Getting Out of Hand: Clemson's Board of Trustees has echoed Dabo Swinney's prior insistence on Clemson's complete and total satisfaction with the ACC.
This Wasn't What I Meant: I was sure hoping Doc Sadler would land on his feet somehow, as he's a good guy and it really wasn't his fault that a school that didn't care about winning in basketball suddenly decided it cared. But for chrissakes, I didn't want him to land on his feet IN LAWRENCE.
Why Not Call It His "Mandible"?: Illinois DE Michael Buchanan now gets to experience the joy of liquid nourishment and unintelligible mumbles, his jaw having been wired shut after breaking it in an "altercation". Look, I'm sorry, but if some dude breaks your jaw, it's a FIGHT. An "altercation" is more like a scuffle. I mourn the state of journalism.
Diablerie: Good job, good effort, NCAA. I mean, I'd think the NCAA would be more than perfectly aware of the difference between North Dakota State and that other school they're trying to nail to the wall. (Speaking of which, barring a state constitutional amendment, the Fighting Sioux are apparently, finally, going away.) ... Latest new uni unveiling: Arkansas. ... Via Andy Staples, say hello to Coach Luther Campbell. ... Dean Smith: Absolutely Fabulous.