The jury trial of Dr. Elton Bouldin, center, began today, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. / Nick Griffin
CULLMAN – The jury trial of former Cullman High School Principal Dr. Elton Bouldin began Monday at the Cullman County Courthouse. Bouldin, who was found guilty of third-degree trespassing on Oct. 13, 2016 in a bench trial presided over by Cullman County Circuit Judge Martha Williams, appealed that verdict on Oct. 25, 2016, requesting a trial by jury. Jury selection was Monday morning, and this afternoon testimony began. The jury trial is being presided over by former Jefferson County Circuit Judge Scott Vowell. It was originally assigned to Cullman County Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas, who quickly recused himself following the assignment.
Bouldin is again facing third-degree trespassing charges stemming from an incident in April of 2016 when he and Cullman High School Assistant Principal Mark Stephens went to the home of a student, Justin Butts. The two educators entered the home- Bouldin says they were invited in; Butts says they were not.
The student's mother, Julee Butts, later swore out a warrant against Bouldin and Stephens, who subsequently turned themselves in and were released the same day.
Following the guilty verdict in his bench trial, Bouldin was sentenced to 10 days of labor and a $200 fine; however, Williams suspended his sentence and instead placed Bouldin on unsupervised probation for six months. On a second charge, failure to report an incident of school violence, Williams found Bouldin not guilty. He had two weeks to appeal the ruling.
Jury trial
Day one of the trial featured testimony and cross examination of both Justin and Julee Butts as well as a recording of a conversation between Julee and Cullman City School Board Superintendent Dr. Susan Patterson.
Much of the day was spent examining an incident that occurred on a school field trip to the Alabama 4-H Center in April of 2016 that involved Butts. Butts and several other Cullman students were there to compete and give an environmental presentation, hoping to advance to a national competition. Butts' team included Brennen Stricklin, Spencer Allen, Austin Smith and John Brown.
On the morning of April 9, 2016, Butts and Stricklin had a physical confrontation over what they planned to name their team, after which Butts required eight stitches on his eyebrow. Butts testified that he threatened Stricklin with a .22 caliber pistol that he had with him on the trip saying, "I'll pop a cap in your ass" after he was threatened with a knife. Butts also added that he felt none of the threats were serious and they were just joking around and that the pistol was not loaded and that he didn't realize it was in his tackle box when he brought in on the trip with him.
The following Monday, Butts was summoned to Stephens' office to write an official statement on what had occurred on the field trip. Butts testified that he mentioned Stricklin's knife in his written statement, but that it has since been lost by the school. He also stated that he and his family had only had conversations with Stephens and were unable to speak with Bouldin despite reaching out multiple times. Butts was assigned 45 days of in-school suspension and began attending ISS the next morning.
Butts went on to say that on Thursday, April 14, he was told by (Cullman High School Assistant Principal) Aaron Sparks that Bouldin and Stephens needed him to go to his house as soon as he was out of ISS for the day. When Butts arrived, both Stephens and Bouldin were waiting for him in the driveway. Justin was on the phone with his mother Julee when he pulled into the driveway, and after explaining the situation to her, Butts said he was instructed not to let them into the house.
Bouldin testified back in October of last year that he was there to verify the caliber of the pistol in question and to "verify Justin's story so we could provide a recommendation for an alteration to the expulsion rule" and because he "needed to be convinced that they couldn't go into the house and replace the larger gun with a .22" Justin stated that he was going into the house to retrieve the pistol to show it to them but told them to wait outside. Butts claims that Bouldin then followed him into the house and to his bedroom where they found the pistol. Butts said that Bouldin asked him "why the gun wasn't loaded" and "who would carry a gun that wasn't loaded" as well as whether or not he had it with him on the field trip.
It was at that time that Butts says he became very upset and began crying in his living room over the implication he may not have been able to graduate the following month. Butts said that he was on the phone with his father, Jason Butts, who told Bouldin over the speaker phone that they needed to leave and that "You two better not be there when I get home."
Bouldin strongly denies that he was told to leave over speaker phone or that Justin ever asked him or Stephens to leave the house.
Julee Butts took the stand shortly after her son and testified that the reason Bouldin and Stephens went to meet Justin at their house was because they knew that neither her or Jason Butts would be there. She said that Stephens called her and asked her to come meet at the school earlier in the afternoon when she informed him that both her and Jason Butts were out of town and wouldn't be able to come until the morning.
After Justin Butts told her that Bouldin and Stephens were waiting on him when he arrived at their house, she tried to reach him multiple times before talking to Stephens at 3:18 p.m. During that call, Julee Butts says she asked Stephens "Why in the world they were there" and said, "They had no business being there."
Julee Butts' testimony wrapped up day one of the trial when the courthouse closed at 4:30 Monday afternoon. The trial will resume Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
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