Hammad Memon, Huntsville Alabama Murder Suspect Caught in Dallas Fleeing with Mother
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, April 16, 2012
The murderers parents are now criminals.
Hindering prosecution is a Class C felony in Alabama.
Code of Alabama, 1975 – Section 13A-10-43
Hindering prosecution in the first degree.
(a) A person commits the crime of hindering prosecution in the first degree if with the intent to hinder the apprehension, prosecution, conviction or punishment of another for conduct constituting a murder or a Class A or B felony, he renders criminal assistance to such person.
(b) Hindering prosecution in the first degree is a Class C felony.
(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §4636; Acts 1979, No. 79- 471, p. 862, §1.)
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/codeofalabama/1975/13A-10-43.htm
Bend over, and kiss your career and life ‘bye-bye.’
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UPDATE: Local doctor charged with aiding teen murder suspect flee
Dr. Iqbal Memon, MD, booking photo, Madison County Sheriff Department, Huntsville, Alabama
April 16, 2012
By Kelly Kazek kelly@athensnews-courier.com
MADISON — A doctor who practiced in Athens was arrested Friday night by Madison police, accused of hindering prosecution for allegedly aiding his teen son, a murder suspect, in an attempt to flee Alabama.
Dr. Iqbal Memon, who occasionally wrote medical columns for The News Courier several years ago, was arrested after his son, Hammad Memon, 17, was captured in Dallas with his mother and 6-year-old sister. Authorities said Hammad had a Pakistani passport in his possession.
The family members apparently left Alabama Wednesday or Thursday after an express mail delivery person reported Hammad had signed for an envelope believed to contain a passport, which was a violation of the terms of Hammad’s bail on a charge of shooting to death classmate Todd Brown, 14, at Discovery Middle School in 2010. Brown lived in Madison with his mother at the time; his father Michael Brown is from Tanner.
The Memon family lives in Madison, where Memon had a second physician’s office.
Hammad was 14 at the time of the shooting but was to be tried as an adult on June 18.
Dr. Memon was charged with hindering prosecution after Madison Police investigators suspected he was not being forthcoming about his family’s location.
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Hammad Memon’s parents charged with hindering prosecution following his arrest in Dallas
Published: Sunday, April 15, 2012, 7:30 AM
By Brian Lawson, The Huntsville Times
The parents of Hammad Memon were both arrested Friday, following their son’s apparent efforts to flee a murder trial for the shooting of a classmate at Discovery Middle School in Madison.
Hammad Memon’s father, Dr. Iqbal Memon was arrested by the Madison Police Department late Friday and charged with hindering prosecution after police found his son had left Alabama ahead of the June 18 murder trial.
Dr. Memon, a pediatrician in Athens, was booked into the Madison County Jail late Friday night. His bond was set at $15,000.
Hammad Memon had been allowed to live at home in Madison pending the murder trial. But police found that Hammad Memon, his mother and six-year-old sister had left Alabama sometime between Wednesday and Thursday.
They were captured by police in Dallas on Friday. Their departure came after Memon, who holds citizenship in Pakistan, received a package authorities suspect contained a passport from the Pakistan Embassy.
His mother, Safia Memon, remained in the Dallas County jail as of late Saturday, according to jail records. She also faces charges of hindering prosecution and a $15,000 bond.
Bruce Gardner, Memon’s attorney, said he hasn’t seen the evidence concerning any details of the alleged flight, but he can understand how a parent might react.
Safia Memon booking information from Dallas County, Texas, Jail website
“It’s extremely rare, but I certainly have to say that I understand the motivation behind it, particularly on the part of the mother,” Gardner said. “I mean we’re looking at a very tough prison sentence for Hammad. I’m sure the prospect of seeing her son go into an Alabama state prison and realizing it’s quite likely the last time he ever sees the light of day, generates something like this.
“It was a bad, bad situation, now it’s awful.”
Memon is charged with shooting 14-year-old classmate Todd Brown in the back of the head during a class change at Discovery Middle School in Madison. The shooting happened two years ago.
Memon was 14 at the time of the shooting, but prosecutors asked and a judge agreed that Memon stand trial as an adult.
The national search began Friday after a delivery driver, who had dropped a package at Memon’s house on Wednesday, tipped Madison police about a possible passport delivery, according to court records.
Pakistani Passport, Front View
Police in Dallas, with help from the FBI, tracked the family through Louisiana and into Texas by pinging the mother’s cell phone.
Madison County Assistant District Attorney Tim Gann said that Memon ran four blocks to avoid arrest and was caught hiding in a bathroom. Gann said Memon and his mother had in their possession Pakistani passports and a large amount of cash.
Gann said he is convinced the Memons were attempting to flee the United States and possibly return to Pakistan.
Gann also said that Dr. Memon was arrested because Madison Police Department investigators suspect he was not telling them the truth about his family’s whereabouts.
“I think they discovered he was misleading the police,” Gann said. “I think he was trying to mislead the investigators so they could get away.”
Attorney Bruce Gardner, Huntsville, AL, is representing Hamad Memon (photo by Huntsville Times)
Gardner, Memon’s attorney, said on Saturday that he was “extremely surprised” by the turn of events. He said Dr.
Memon is established in the community and he and his wife have been respectful of U.S. laws and customs and never indicated to him they thought Hammad was being treated unfairly.
“Obviously it appears Hammad tried to run, I don’t know what the plans were or anything of that nature, and I don’t know how they got to Dallas or anything,” Gardner said. “It certainly compounds an already difficult case.
“I don’t know now, because of this misadventure, but it has probably already generated a whole bunch more negative publicity for my client. I’ll have to contemplate now things like venue changes (for the trial).”
The Memons have four children and Hammad is the oldest. Memon’s 6-year-old sister, who was with the mother and her brother in Dallas, was apparently turned over to relatives in Texas after her mother’s arrest.
A hindering prosecution charge in Alabama is a Class C felony and carries a possible sentence of one to 10 years in prison.
Towanda Moore, the mother of Todd Brown, on Saturday released the following statement through attorney Mark McDaniel: “Our family wish to thank the Madison County District Attorney’s Office for their outstanding work on Todd’s case. They have been diligent in their efforts to get justice for Todd. Most recently we know that but for their efforts Hammad Memon may have escaped justice.”
“We want to thank everyone that was instrumental in preventing Mr. Memon’s escape to Pakistan and his return to Madison County to stand trial.”
Gardner has argued that Memon was suffering from serious depression at the time of the shooting and should be hospitalized rather than placed in an adult jail. But state courts have twice rejected appeals and have ruled that Memon may stand trial as an adult.
When Madison police could not find Memon, Gann on Friday petitioned Madison County Circuit Court Judge Karen Hall to revoke Memon’s bond. Hall ordered the bond revoked around lunchtime and issued an arrest order.
Gann said he will now ask the court to deny bond for Hammad Memon in order to keep him in jail until his trial date.
Gann said the Madison County Sheriff’s Department will file the required paperwork Monday to begin the process of returning the Memons to Madison County.
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http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/hammad_memons_parents_charged.html
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Captured teen fugitive Hammad Memon waives extradition, will be returned to Madison County this week
Published: Monday, April 16, 2012, 4:43 PM Updated: Monday, April 16, 2012, 4:49 PM
With his apparent attempt to flee prosecution foiled in a Dallas bus station Friday night, Hammad Memon has waived extradition and will be returned to Madison County later this week.
Investigators with the Madison Police Department and the Madison County District Attorney’s office will travel to Dallas to pick up Memon and bring him back to Madison County, prosecutor Tim Gann said today.
Memon’s mother, who faces hindering prosecution charges, won’t be immediately returned, Gann said. She will go through a more routine transfer process, Gann said, and will be picked up when the Madison County Sheriff’s Department can arrange transportation.
Memon’s father was also arrested Friday night at the family’s Madison home and charged with hindering prosecution. Dr. Iqbal Memon bonded out of the Madison County Jail over the weekend.
Memon, 16, is scheduled to go on trial June 18 on charges he killed a 14-year-old classmate at Discovery Middle School in February 2010.
Memon is charged with shooting 14-year-old classmate Todd Brown in the back of the head during a class change at Discovery Middle School in Madison.
Todd Brown, aged 14, was shot point-blank range in the back of his head in between classes by Hamad Memon at Discovery Middle School, Huntsville, AL, Friday, 05 February 2012
Memon was 14 at the time of the Feb. 5, 2010 shooting, but prosecutors asked and a judge agreed that Memon stand trial as an adult.
Gann said he doesn’t expect Memon to be charged with any flight related charges, in order to keep the focus on the murder case and not affect its timing.
“Although there has been a whirlwind over the weekend and some twists and turns in the case, we are still preparing to try the case June 18,” Gann said. “We’re not planning other charges against him, we’re concentrating on what happened at Discovery Middle School that day, not what happened this weekend.”
Gann said when Memon is returned, he is legally entitled to a bond hearing. Gann said he will argue that no bond be set, given Memon’s flight risk.
The national manhunt for Memon began after Madison police investigators were alerted that a package from the Pakistani Embassy was delivered to the Memons’ home Wednesday morning. Memon, a Pakistani citizen, had to give up his passport as a condition of his $75,000 bond. He was allowed to travel out of state with his parents, but the suspected passport delivery led to Gann requesting that Memon’s bond revoked. That request was granted by a local judge around lunchtime and the national manhunt picked up speed.
The Memons were located traveling through Louisiana through Mrs. Memon’s cell phone being turned on occasionally. The FBI assisted Madison police, Gann said.
Friday night Memon and his mother were arrested in Dallas after a Greyhound Bus system security guard recognized him from an alert that had been sent out, according to Dallas Police Department records. One security guard told The Times’ news partner WHNT Channel 19, that his partner went to notify Dallas police who were nearby making an unrelated arrest and he kept an eye on Memon, who was wearing a cap.
The Memons had purchased bus tickets, but the guard did not notice the destination. Gann said they were found with a large amount of cash and Pakistani passports.
The Dallas Police Department incident report notes that police went into the bus station and found Memon in the men’s bathroom. As they were taking him into custody, his mother, Safia Memon, and his 6-year-old sister were exiting the ladies bathroom and Mrs. Memon identified herself as his mother. She was also taken into custody, police said.
Hammad Memon was placed in juvenile custody. Earlier reports said Memon ran several blocks before he was arrested, but the Dallas police account provided to The Times Monday does not describe a chase.
The sister was placed with a distant family member in Texas Friday, Hammad Memon’s attorney Bruce Gardner said. The couple’s two other children were home Friday night when Dr. Memon was arrested, Gardner said. He said they were briefly taken into Alabama Department of Human Resources care overnight, but have since been returned home.
Gardner said Saturday that the apparent attempt to flee has made a bad situation much worse. He said in the upcoming murder trial prosecutors can cite evidence that Memon tried to flee.
Gann, who has said he is convinced the Memons were fleeing and likely headed back to Pakistan, said he is anxious to review the evidence collected by Dallas police.
“We’ll definitely consider using that,” Gann said.
A murder charge with a deadly weapon carries a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
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http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/captured_teen_fugitive_hammad.html
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Security at Dallas bus terminal recognized Hammad Memon from police bulletin, called police
Published: Monday, April 16, 2012, 7:28 AM Updated: Monday, April 16, 2012, 9:20 AM
DALLAS, Texas — A security guard at a downtown Dallas bus terminal says Hammad Memon and his mother were attempting to board a bus Friday when he and a partner identified them from a police bulletin and called authorities, the security guard told The Times’ news partner, WHNT News 19 in an exclusive interview on Sunday.
The security guard, who asked not to be identified, told WHNT that he and his partner had just received a photo bulletin indicating that a teenage fugitive from Alabama charged with murder was likely nearby, WHNT reports.
Minutes later, the guard said, Memon and his mother, Safia Memon, walked past him into the Greyhound bus terminal, WHNT reports. The guard said Memon was wearing a ballcap, but he instantly recognized him from the photo.
“No sooner did he walk past and I looked and said ‘That’s him”, the security guard told WHNT. “We were standing there looking at his picture, and he actually literally walked right past us along with his mother…We made the positive ID, and we kept visual identification until the police arrived. The security guard I was with actually escorted the police in and showed them where he was standing, and where the mother was sitting on the benches.”
Memon tried to run, and made it four blocks before being arrested. He is in the Dallas County Jail awaiting extradition. His mother was arrested in Dallas and Memon’s father, pediatrician Dr. Iqbal Memon, was arrested in Madison. Both are charged with hindering prosecution.
The security guard said he didn’t notice the final destination on the bus tickets the Memons presented, WHNT reported.
Memon is charged with shooting 14-year-old classmate Todd Brown in the back of the head during a class change at Discovery Middle School in Madison. The shooting happened two years ago.
Memon was 14 at the time of the shooting, but prosecutors asked and a judge agreed that Memon stand trial as an adult.
Hammad Memon had been allowed to live at home in Madison pending the murder trial, which is set to begin June 17. But police found that Hammad Memon, his mother and 6-year-old sister had left Alabama sometime between Wednesday and Thursday.
Prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Hammad Memon Friday after a delivery driver tipped Madison police that he had delivered what appeared to be a Pakistan passport to Memon on Wednesday.
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http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/security_at_dallas_bus_termina.html
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ADDENDUM 17 April 20212: “WHNT News 19 called the Pakistani embassy in Washington D.C. Monday afternoon. The embassy confirmed that Hammad Memon and his mother both applied for passports, and said both family members provided all of the necessary documents with their application. But what was actually provided and approved is still not clear, along with how Hammad Memon was able to obtain a passport with an outstanding murder charge.”
Warm Southern Breeze 
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