FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
July 14, 2014
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Claire Haynes (334) 242-7351
Page 1 of 1
AG Announces that Court of Criminal Appeals
Upholds Murder Conviction in Mobile County
(MONTGOMERY) -Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the murder conviction of
Brandon Phillip Estle. Estle, 27, of Mobile, was convicted in Mobile County Circuit
Court in June 2013 for the murder of Justin Hasty, also of Mobile. Estle and Hasty both
were 2005 graduates of Murphy High School.
Justin Hasty’s family had become concerned on October 29, 2012, when he did
not arrive at work. When Hasty’s mother went to her son’s Caroline Avenue home
looking for him, she found blood splatter in the bedroom. A police investigation was
commenced.
The following day, Estle directed his father, Doug Estle, the former principal of
Murphy High School and now principal of Bryant High School in Irvington, to a large
tool box he had dumped in a field near Doug Estle’s Grand Bay home. Doug Estle
subsequently summoned law enforcement to the location. Justin Hasty’s body was
found stuffed in the box, bludgeoned and shot.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Estle was a heavy drug user who owed
Hasty several hundred dollars, and that he had attacked Hasty with a baseball bat when
Hasty would not loan him money for drugs. Brandon Estle claimed that he struck Hasty
with the bat in self defense when Hasty pulled a gun on him.
The case was prosecuted at trial by Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich.
Following his conviction, Estle was sentenced to life in prison.
Estle subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal. The
Attorney General’s Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process,
arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the conviction. The Court
did so in a decision issued on Friday, July 11.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Stephen
Dodd of the Attorney General’s Appeals Division for his successful work in this case.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov
