By Staff
Staff reports
Marvin Franklin, 58, of Brewton was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, June 8, in a Bay Minette courtroom.
Franklin was arrested in October of 2004 after he and another motorist crashed head-on in the southbound lane of Interstate 65 near Rabon.
The passenger in the other vehicle, Paul Broussard, 42, of South Carolina was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Franklin was found guilty of murder, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving the wrong way in April. It took only 30 minutes for the jury to convict him in a Baldwin County courtroom. Authorities said that Franklin's blood alcohol was three times the legal limit in Alabama. He had been driving north in the southbound lane for about eight miles before the accident occurred. First responders said that a pornographic video was playing on a portable DVD at the time of the accident.
Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge James H. Reid ordered Franklin to serve the rest of his life in prison. He must also pay more than $6,000 in fines and court costs.
Franklin had said that he did not remember how much he had to drink that day and defense attorney Bill Scully argued that construction in the area had left Franklin confused enough that when he entered the Interstate, he thought he was on a two-lane highway. Traces of marijuana was found in his system and he told authorities that he thought he had crashed into a tree.
Franklin is also a convicted sex offender. Records show that he was convicted on charges of possession of obscene material and second degree sexual abuse in Jefferson County in 1999.