Two Somerville brothers once charged with felony burglary and assault in an alleged baseball bat attack will serve no additional jail time. Jason Thomas Pope, 36, and Justin Tyler Pope, 34, both pleaded guilty this month to reduced misdemeanor charges stemming from a 2023 incident in Morgan County. Both walked away with probation.
According to The Decatur Daily, Jason Pope pleaded guilty on Oct. 19 to third-degree assault and second-degree criminal trespass, and Justin Pope entered the same pleas on Oct. 21. According to the paper's account, citing court records, both brothers received sentences requiring no additional jail time. The charges they pleaded to are a step down from what they faced when this began: first-degree burglary and second-degree assault.
How the Sentences Break Down
As reported by The Decatur Daily, court records show Jason Pope received concurrent 12-month jail terms, split to time served, followed by two years of unsupervised probation. Justin Pope's sentence was a pair of concurrent suspended jail terms, one of 12 months and one of six months, plus two years of probation. In both cases, the lack of further jail time comes from the way those terms were structured.
Alabama Code § 15-22-54 says misdemeanor probation may not exceed two years, subject to statutory exceptions.
What Deputies Were Told in 2023
Morgan County deputies responded on Sept. 29, 2023, to a report of burglary and assault at a private-drive residence in Springfield, and the brothers were charged on Oct. 2, 2023, as noted by The Decatur Daily. Per the Decatur Daily, an investigator's affidavit lays out the allegations that preceded those charges.
The affidavit also says the victim had contacted Priceville police the night before about a domestic violence incident and later received treatment at Parkway Medical Center. In the account of the reported attack, the victim said he was asleep when he heard a door slam open, then was struck in the head with a baseball bat and lost consciousness. The affidavit alleges the brothers continued kicking and punching him and told him to “call 911 again.”
Those details are allegations from the affidavit, not findings, and the brothers' guilty pleas are to the reduced misdemeanors only. The specific conditions of their probation have not been made public in the available reporting.
What Happens if Probation Goes Sideways
State law spells out the consequences for a probation violation. A court may issue a warrant and arrest a probationer, though under the same code section the person generally cannot be held awaiting a violation hearing for more than 20 business days unless new criminal charges are pending. For eligible probationers, a court that finds sufficient evidence of a violation may also impose up to 45 consecutive days of confinement in a residential transition center or a designated consenting county jail.
How Alabama Reviews a Probation Violation
Under Alabama Rule of Criminal Procedure 27.6, a judge must be reasonably satisfied from the evidence that a probation violation occurred. If the court finds a violation, it may revoke probation, modify it or continue it, according to the Alabama Judicial System. Those provisions establish the evidentiary standard and possible outcomes; the available information does not say what notice or counsel protections were involved in the Popes’ cases or whether either brother contested an alleged violation.
Nothing in the available reporting indicates either brother has violated probation.
