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Criminal Justice

Wife convicted of murdering prominent attorney husband claimed to reveal real killer at her sentencing

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 9, 2024, 1:04 pm CST

A Georgia woman convicted of murdering and burning the body of her husband, a prominent Atlanta-area attorney, was sentenced to life in prison after a Dec. 5 sentencing hearing in which she claimed that the real killer was the man’s son.

Melody Walker Farris, 64, of Georgia was convicted last month for the 2018 murder of lawyer Gary Wayne Farris, who was the 58-year-old managing partner of the Atlanta office of midsize law firm Burr & Forman at the time of his death, Law360 reports.

Gary Wayne Farris was the chair of Burr & Forman’s lending practice and a member of the executive committee, the article reports. He was a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law.

Publications with coverage besides Law360 include Court TV, WXIA-TV, Courthouse News Service, Fox 5 Atlanta and the Independent.

Witnesses said Farris had two affairs before her husband’s death at their farm in Alpharetta, Georgia. She and her husband had also argued about money, and she stood to benefit if he died, prosecutors said. The Independent cited a report by the Cherokee Tribune & Ledger News that Farris was the beneficiary of a $2 million life insurance policy.

During the sentencing hearing, Farris said she has kept the real killer’s identity secret for six years. Courthouse News Service reported on her words.

“I want the world to know who did this. Not only did I not do this, I know who did,” Farris said. “I know Scott killed his father.”

Farris said her mother had advised her to take the blame for the killing, but she would no longer protect her son Scott Farris. Farris said she saw Scott Farris coming from the burn pile, where the remains had been found, and described other circumstances that she found suspicious.

The defense previously suggested that Scott Farris could be involved in the murder because he was missing a gun that had the same kind of bullets used in the killing, according to Courthouse News. Defense lawyer Michael Ray said investigators did not search for evidence in Scott Farris’ room, which was filthy in contrast to his spotless bathroom.

Investigators first thought that Gary Wayne Farris may have fallen onto the burn pile during a medical emergency. They later found a bullet in his rib cage.

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3. ‘Ultimatedadbod’ lawyer arrested on child…

Criminal Justice

‘Ultimatedadbod’ lawyer arrested on child exploitation charges after chats with undercover agents reveal identity

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 20, 2024, 8:56 am CST

Updated: A Tennessee lawyer was arrested last week on federal charges that include child exploitation and animal crushing after he allegedly shared a digital photo of himself with an undercover agent that included a certificate on the wall with his name.

Patrick Bryant Hawley, 42, of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, was arrested after he unwittingly spoke with undercover agents in online chats, according to allegations in an affidavit filed Nov. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

A Nov. 15 press release announced the arrest, while the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Fox Chattanooga have coverage.

“I’m really mainly into pedomoms,” Hawley allegedly told one undercover agent.

After Hawley provided the digital image with the certificate showing his name, a database search led to the Chattanooga law office where he practiced law with his father, the affidavit says. Investigators also said they traced an IP address to his home.

Hawley was arrested after he appeared for a meeting with an undercover FBI agent whom he thought was a fellow pedophile, the arrest affidavit says.

Hawley is accused of distributing online videos depicting child sexual abuse and animal abuse and of exchanging sexual videos with a 14-year-old girl. In one photo sent to the girl, details in the background made it possible to identify the residential location, the affidavit says.

The details included a dresser with small drawers, a lamp with a green shade, figurines and a chain hanging on the wall with handcuffs.

In the conversations with the undercover agents, Hawley allegedly used the usernames “Ultimatedadbod” and “hejumpsaround” and expressed a desire for sex with their daughters.

The charges listed in the complaint are animal crushing; sexual exploitation of children; receipt, possession and distribution of material involving sexual exploitation of minors; and coercion and enticement.

A magistrate judge ordered Hawley’s detention. The defendant was represented by Lee Davis and Logan Davis in an initial court appearance. Lee Davis told the ABA Journal that they are waiting to see whether an indictment will be returned Wednesday on the charges in the criminal complaint. An arraignment on the indictment is scheduled for Friday.

Updated Nov. 20 at 9:28 a.m. to include the comment from Lee Davis.

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3. Warrant required for overhead zoom-lens search…

Privacy Law

Warrant required for overhead zoom-lens search that could reveal ‘intimate’ and ‘unflattering’ details, top state court says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 12, 2024, 1:29 pm CDT

The Alaska Constitution requires police to get a warrant if they use binoculars or cameras with zoom lenses to look into a yard from a plane, the Alaska Supreme Court has ruled.

The state supreme court ruled March 9 for John William McKelvey III, who sought to suppress evidence from a search that allegedly found marijuana plants, methamphetamine, scales, a loaded AK-47 rifle and a large amount of cash at his home north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Alaska Beacon, the Associated Press and Alaska’s News Source have coverage, while the Legal Profession Blog has highlights from the opinion.

Alaska state troopers focused on McKelvey after they received a tip in 2012 from an informant that he was growing marijuana on his property. The officers flew over McKelvey’s property in a plane, snapped photos using a camera with a high-powered zoom lens, and obtained a search warrant after the photos revealed buckets of unidentifiable plants in a greenhouse.

McKelvey was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a gun in connection with a drug crime.

The state supreme court said the Alaska Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures should be given a liberal interpretation because of another state constitutional provision that explicitly recognizes a right to privacy.

“The state argues that because small airplane travel is so common in Alaska and because any passenger might peer into your yard and snap a picture of you, law enforcement officials may do the same,” the Alaska Supreme Court said. “We disagree. The Alaska Constitution protects the right to be free of unreasonable searches. The fact that a random person might catch a glimpse of your yard while flying from one place to another does not make it reasonable for law enforcement officials to take to the skies and train high-powered optics on the private space right outside your home without a warrant.”

The Alaska Supreme Court said using a high-powered lens while flying overhead has the potential to reveal “intimate details,” such as “an unflattering photo of a person in a swimsuit, images of a person practicing a silly dance with their children, or expressions of religious devotion that one might not wish others to see. The mere knowledge that the government could make these kinds of detailed observations without a warrant may discourage Alaskans from using their curtilage to live their private lives.”

Two concurring justices said the Alaska Supreme Court should have gone further by requiring warrants for any plane surveillance, rather than aerial surveillance carried out with technological enhancements.