Mark Everett Fuller (born 1958, Enterprise, Alabama) is a federal judge for the U. S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama. He was nominated by George W. Bush on August 1, 2002 and confirmed by the US Senate on November 14, 2002.[1] He received his B.S. from the University of Alabama in 1982 and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1985.[2] He was an attorney in private practice from 1985–1996, when he became Chief Assistant District Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit of Alabama, and was then elected District Attorney of the 12th Circuit in 1996 where he served until his appointment as a federal judge.[3]
Fuller has received criticism over his participation in the Federal criminal trial and sentencing of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.[4][5][6] He denied a motion for his recusal in the case that was based on his 43.75% interest in Doss Aviation, Inc. Doss contracted extensively for the Federal Government and those contracts were subject to annual renewal by the government.[7] Fuller was also criticized for refusing to allow Siegelman to remain free on appeal and the Appeals Court overruled Fuller's decision.[8] Siegelman argued that Fuller "gave the jury false instructions."[9]
On March 6, 2009, the Eleventh Circuit issued its opinion on Don Seigelman's appeal of his conviction. The Eleventh Circuit's opinion vindicated Fuller's handling of the Don Siegelman trial by upholding the conviction and sentence, and affirming most of Fuller's decisions throughout the trial.[10] The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Fuller's decision not to recuse himself from the case. The Eleventh Circuit noted that recusal motions must be made before trial. However, the defense in the Siegelman case waited until after the trial was over and the jury had rendered its verdict to ask Fuller to recuse himself. Accordingly, the Eleventh Circuit noted that the recusal motion "has all the earmarks of an eleventh-hour ploy based upon his dissatisfaction with the jury's verdict and the judge's post-trial rulings." The Eleventh Circuit also upheld the jury instructions that Fuller gave to the jury prior to their deliberations. Furthermore, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the sentence that Don Seigelman received.
The prosecution of Don Seigleman and Richard Scrushy is the subject of The Governor of Goat Hill, Don Seigleman, the Reporter who Exposed his Crimes, and the Hoax that Suckered some of the Top Names in Journalism, by Alabama investigative journalist Eddie Curran.[11] Curran exposed Seigleman's crimes as a reporter for the Mobile Press-Register and has said that "The post-trial attacks on U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller appeared coordinated and well-planned. Fuller, who performed admirably in presiding over a very complicated trial, can't defend himself. One reason I feel good about, "The Governor of Goat Hill," is that, without it, the often vicious and invariably dishonest attacks on Fuller, the jurors and others would have largely gone unchallenged." [12]
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