Prosecutor: deal was "in the best interest of the state of Alabama"

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - With the murder and stalking charges against him dropped, Steve Nodine's two-year legal saga is almost over.

As part of the plea agreement reached Friday afternoon, Nodine pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and perjury, which is a felony.

"He admitted to domestic violence third, harassment of Angel Downs. And perjury where he lied on the affidavit to obtain appointed counsel," Defense Attorney Pascal Bruijn said.

Those charges carry a possible maximum sentence of 12 years, but Nodine’s defense lawyers believe he's been through enough.

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"This is a man that whose been to the federal penitentiary. He's been under public scrutiny and under public suspicion for two years, and he's paid for any of his misdeeds.  We're going to ask for probation," Defense Attorney John Beck said.

Nodine will be sentenced in October.

Once a Mobile County Commissioner, Nodine was accused killing his mistress Angel Downs . She was found shot in her Gulf Shores driveway in 2010. Nodine’s first trial in 2011 ended with a hung jury. 

David Whetstone was appointed special prosecutor in the case last October and, the next month, the state decided to move forward with the murder case. Since then, Whetstone has had a change of heart.

He’s no longer certain he could win.

"Did we have probable cause? Absolutely. Did we have proof beyond a reasonable doubt? No.  And that was the basis of the plea. And I thought it was in the best interest of the state of Alabama to go ahead and settle it now," Whetstone said.

Whetstone talked about two of the sticking points in the case.  One involves Alabama's stalking law.

"There's been a dispute between whether it was murder or criminally negligent homicide, and it was based upon harassment, or essentially a felony stalking. The law isn't clear, and so after we looked at it, we thought that the better part of valor was to take a plea of a felony and domestic violence," Whetstone explained. “Every law enforcement agency that worked on it agrees with it.”

Whetstone said some of the stalking allegations took place out-of-state. Upon review of the evidence against Nodine, Whetstone said he “concluded that it would be very difficult to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that a murder took place."

According to the special prosecutor, there was also no evidence as to who pulled the trigger that killed Angel Downs.

"Under the law of Alabama, it might not be necessary to have proven who pulled the trigger, but that's never been tested. I'm not sure what the law would be," he said.

The defense calls the plea bargain vindication for Nodine.

"The fact of the matter is that Steven Nodine did not kill Angel Downs.  He had nothing to do with Angel Downs' death.  It was a suicide. It was unfortunate for a lot of people and  that's what this case has been about," Beck said.

Whetstone said the problem was that the facts were “in desperate opposition to each other.” As a result, he felt that that this was the necessary outcome, but he isn’t satisfied.

"I think sometimes getting something resolved and getting to the end of the case is justice.  Am I happy? No.  This has been difficult for me. I don't think Mr. Nodine is happy; I don't the victim's family is happy," Whetstone said.

The defense team said they're just glad it's over.

"Obviously, our client is exonerated of murder, and that's always a victory so we would consider it a victory," Bruijn said.