Reader’s guide · Georgia
Albert Patterson: reading Albert Fuller’s appeal
A guide to Fuller’s 1959 appeal in the Patterson assassination case, with the conviction kept distinct from the wider Phenix City history.
- Record
- Fuller v. State, 113 So. 2d 153
- Issued by
- Supreme Court of Alabama
- Date
- February 12, 1959
- Document
- Court opinion
Reading the record
Albert Fuller appealed his conviction for the murder of Albert L. Patterson. The opinion records the jury’s 1955 verdict and life sentence, then reviews the issues raised in that prosecution. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed.
The caption belongs to Fuller’s case. Although the opinion recounts evidence about the broader Phenix City setting, its disposition does not decide the culpability of every person associated with that history.
For readers of the Columbus volume, the cross-river location matters: this is an Alabama prosecution connected with Phenix City. Follow the change of venue and the appellate claims rather than reading the opinion as a comprehensive judgment about the entire corruption network.
Questions to take to the source
- Why was the trial moved from Russell County?
- Which challenges concern Fuller’s trial rather than another defendant?
- What does the final affirmance resolve, and what broader questions does it leave outside this case?
Follow the evidence
Open the source record
These links open the cited documents on their hosts. No account or email is needed to read this guide.
- Fuller v. State — 1959 opinion
Court opinion reproduced in Justia’s case-law archive.
Companion reading for True Crime Georgia: The Columbus Files. This guide addresses the dated records above; later proceedings may have their own decisions.