Marquette defense responds to Alabama AG’ arguements against self defense claims

DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Attorneys for former Decatur Police Officer Mac Marquette have filed a reply to arguments he should not be given immunity for the on-duty shooting of Stephen Perkins made by the Alabama Attorney General.

Marquette, a former Decatur Police Department officer, is charged with the Sept. 29, 2023, shooting death of Stephen Perkins during a botched repossession attempt. Marquette was indicted for murder in early 2024, and his murder trial is currently set for September.

In a 43-page filing earlier this month, the Attorney General’s Office, acting on behalf of Morgan County prosecutors, told the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals that Marquette’s self-defense claims at this point should not lead to a granting of immunity on the murder charge.

“Marquette has not shown a clear legal right to immunity from prosecution in the shooting death of Perkins,” the AG’s office filing argues. “The circuit court correctly found that, based on Marquette’s proffer of evidence, there remain open questions regarding whether he had a legal right to be at Perkins’s house and/or was operating within the scope of his duties as a police officer at the time of the shooting—questions more appropriately decided by a jury.”

In a short reply to those arguments filed on July 22, Marquette’s attorneys are saying that the state has failed to lay out how the former officer did not act in self-defence on the night of the shooting. The defense said the state failed to establish how Marquette did not qualify for the stand-your-ground or common law arguments for self-defense.

The defense also argues that Marquette was a police officer on duty the night of the shooting and that his legal right to be there is not in dispute.

“Marquette was an on-duty police officer fulfilling his duties to his community when someone unlawfully pointed a pistol at a third party and then unlawfully trained the gun on himself,” The reply said. “Marquette was forced to make a split-second decision that anyone staring down the barrel of a gun-wielding person would make.”

This is not the first time Marquette’s attorneys have argued he acted in self-defense that night, and the case should be dismissed on those grounds. In late March, a hearing on those arguments was held and Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott denied Marquette’s immunity claims.

Marquette’s attorneys appealed that ruling, leading to the current examination of the issue in the appeals court.

There is no timeline for when the appeals court has to rule on the issue. If the court finds in Marquette’s favor, the case will be over; if not, the murder trial will continue as scheduled.