By Thyrie Bland |
BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- A
former Mobile police officer who was arrested on a manslaughter charge last
month wants a judge to lift three conditions of her release on bond because
they are creating a hardship for her, according to a court motion.
Vicky Johnston, 53, of Satsuma,
was indicted in August in the July 5 death of of Linda Rutherford, 65, of
Calera. Johnston was driving a Ford Mustang in the 500 block of East Boulevard
in Gulf Shores when it hit Rutherford, who was trying to walk across the road,
according to an accident report.
Johnston was released from the
Baldwin County Corrections Center on Sept. 18 on a $50,000 bond. The conditions
of Johnston's release require her to wear GPS and alcohol monitors and undergo
random drug testing.
She has to pay for the cost of
the monitoring and the drug testing.
Johnston, who was a Mobile
police officer for 21 years, retired after being diagnosed with breast cancer
in 2001. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006, according to the motion.
Johnston has undergone surgery
twice this year because of cataracts, the motion states.
Johnston has limited financial
means and spends much of her income -- Social Security and a partial pension --
on her medical needs, according to the motion.
"The requirement of these
unnecessary conditions of the defendant's bond has already created a
substantial financial hardship upon the defendant," the motion states.
Johnston's criminal case is
assigned to Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Langford Floyd. Floyd has not
ruled on the motion.
