Citing a hardship, Mobile police officer charged with manslaughter wants judge to lift bond conditions


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.