Changes

The Reverend '''Hugh G. Garrett King, Sr.''' (b. [[1954]]) is an African American community leader, former [[Pensacola City Council]]man and former pastor of the [[Greater Union Baptist Church]]. He was arrested on [[April 28]], [[2007]] for cocaine possession, for after which the church has suspended him he was removed as pastor indefinitely. As a nonviolent first offenderHe pleaded no contest on [[January 14]], [[2008]] and received two years' probation, he but is expected to avoid trial by entering a pretrial intervention programappeal the legality of the search that led to his arrest.

King entered a written waiver of not guilty on one charge of cocaine possession on [[May 17]] and requested a jury trial.<ref>"Rev. King pleads not guilty." ''Pensacola News Journal'', May 17, 2007.</ref> Attorney [[Barry Baroset]] later asked Circuit Judge [[Joel Boles]] to suppress the evidence against his client, arguing that Officers [[Charles Decker]] and [[Matthew Coverdale]] illegally stopped and searched Cotton's vehicle, which he said did not closely match the Chevrolet Blazer described by robbery witnesses.<ref>"Reverend battles drug charge." ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 11, 2007.</ref> Boles denied the request, saying the offficers had a "well-founded suspicion" to stop the vehicle.<ref>"Judge rules King traffic stop, search legal." ''Pensacola News Journal'', September 26, 2007.</ref>

Circuit Judge He was expected to plead guilty and enter a pretrial intervention program,<ref>"Rev. King to avoid trial." ''Pensacola News Journal'', November 1, 2007.</ref> but later denied agreeing to the terms of the program. "We stood before this congregation and said we were not guilty, and we told the truth," King said. "We entered a formal plea of 'not guilty.' That has not changed, and it will not change."<ref>"King plans to fight cocaine charges." ''Pensacola News Journal'', November 9, 2007.</ref> King later dismissed Baroset as his attorney and hired [[Ted Stokes]]. He announced his resignation as pastor of [[Greater Union Baptist Church|Greater Union]] on [[December 23]], [[Nick Geeker2007]] placed King , and in a early January [[2008]] stated that he would change his guilty plea to [[Wikipedia:Nolo contendere|no contest]]. As Stokes explained, "The pretrial intervention program would have been fine, but the state wanted him to admit guilt. He has a big issue with acknowledging guilt. I don't think Mr. King has any regrets."<ref>"King expected to make plea." ''Pensacola News Journal'', January 3, 2008.</ref> King entered the plea before Judge [[Joel Boles]] on [[November 1January 14]]and was sentenced to two years' probation. TypicallyBoles withheld [[Wikipedia:Adjudication|adjudication]], nonviolent first-time offenders are allowed to avoid trial if they admit meaning King will not have a felony conviction appear on his record. King still intends to appeal the legality of the crime, attend counseling traffic stop and submit search that led to random urinalysishis arrest.<ref>"RevHugh King gets probation." ''Pensacola News Journal'', January 14, 2007. </ref> As a result of King 's plea, [[Community Maritime Park Associates]] Chairman [[Lacey Collier]] asked Board members to consider removing him "for conduct detrimental to avoid trialthe interests of the corporation," as allowed by the organization's bylaws.<ref>"Park board could oust King." ''Pensacola News Journal'', November 1January 12, 20072008.</ref>

{{reflist|2}}