The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday reversed a judge's decision dismissing an 11-count indictment against William Ray Norris, the former Clarke County sheriff. The court ruled that a judge erred in dismissing the charges based on Norris' understanding that a state official promised he would not be prosecuted if he resigned from office.
An Alabama appeals court reinstated charges against former Clarke County Sheriff William Ray Norris.
Norris' attorney has said the former sheriff had reached a verbal agreement with the attorney general's office that Norris would not be prosecuted if he resigned.
FORMER MISSOURI SHERIFF, DEPUTY HAD AFFAIR, NOW INDICTED ON MULTIPLE FELONIES
The attorney general's office disputed that characterization, but a circuit judge ruled Norris and his attorney "reasonably believed the agreement existed and that Norris had relied on that belief to his detriment by resigning as sheriff," appellate judges wrote in the Friday opinion.
The appellate court ruled that the "mere belief that he had been granted immunity" was not sufficient to dismiss the case against Norris.