Share

Two weeks after being informed he was at the center of an investigation into why police found a small amount of marijuana in his county-issued vehicle, Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine took and passed a drug test, his attorney said Wednesday afternoon, adding that Nodine also passed a polygraph examination last week.

In an interview in his 23rd-floor office, attorney Matt Green released the notarized results of both the urinalysis Nodine had performed Jan. 7 in the office of Dr. Lisa Burch, M.D., as well as well as the findings of polygraph expert Neil Rucker. Rucker administered a three-question examination to Nodine Jan. 19.

“After careful analysis of the polygraph charts it is the opinion of this polygraph examiner that Mr. Nodine was truthful when answering ‘no’ to the above listed relevant questions,” Rucker offered in his signed report.

Nodine has been under investigation since Dec. 23 when he took his county-owned truck to have the oil changed at the Mobile County motor pool. Sheriff’s deputies say they found marijuana in a pill bottle with Nodine’s name on it in the passenger seat rear map compartment of the commissioner’s Ford F-150. That bottle was allegedly found in a blue nylon bag along with rolling papers, a lighter and another pill bottle containing Lortab.

Deputies also claimed to smell what they believed was the odor of burned marijuana in the vehicle, and saw marijuana on the driver’s side floor mat. A “masking agent,” which apparently was some kind of cologne, was purportedly used to cover the burned weed smell, according to deputies.

The investigation was eventually kicked over to the Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy so other elected officials could avoid the appearance of impropriety in investigating Nodine. Both Alabama Attorney General Troy King and Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson have bowed out of the case. The amount of marijuana in question would be a misdemeanor.

Nodine originally said he offered to take a drug test when confronted by Sheriff Sam Cochran with the news about what had been found in his vehicle. He said the sheriff told him that was not necessary. Later, Nodine’s first attorney, Dom Soto, recommended against him having a drug test.

Green said while it had been his professional opinion in fighting a legal investigation into Nodine that the commissioner not get involved in volunteering for such tests, his client insisted upon doing so. Green said marijuana typically takes from 30-45 days to leave someone’s system, although he did allow that it could happen faster. Still, he said, Nodine’s test was negative for marijuana.

“There is a window there that could create doubt. That’s why we took it one step further,” he said, referring to the polygraph exam.

Rucker, who administered the exam, formerly worked for both the Alabama Bureau of Investigations and the Alabama State Troopers, Green said. He asked Nodine three questions, which he was to answer either “yes” or “no.” Those questions were: “Did you knowingly transport marijuana in your county-owned vehicle?” “Was the marijuana found in your vehicle your marijuana?” and “Have you ever transported marijuana in your county-owned vehicle?”

Green said he has passed these test results on to D.A. Stephen Billy as he decides whether to move forward with a case.

Nodine released a statement Wednesday afternoon, which he says will be his last on the matter. Among other things, Nodine wrote, “My current situation is a precarious one. On one hand, I am encouraged by my attorney to say little. On the other side, I am encouraged by my constituents and advisers to speak. My path has always been just to tell the truth. Having never been the subject of a criminal investigation I have largely followed the advice of legal counsel and remained silent.”

Nodine went on to say, “Certainly there are people who want to damage my character and career. I have been an independent voice both on the Mobile City Council and the Mobile County Commission. Because of my work, convicted felons can no longer get county contracts and political cronies have been taken off county payroll. I have fought to protect the taxpayers. I have worked against the city of Mobile’s unfair annexation scheme…. After this letter, I will say and do no more, and let the investigation proceed.”

Green went on to say he hopes these measures will help put many of the doubts about Nodine to rest, even though he acknowledges it will not answer the central question in this mystery – if the pot isn’t Nodine’s, whose is it?

“I don’t think the polygrapher would put a 30-year reputation on the line to help the commissioner, and neither would the doctor,” Green said.