By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News – Top photo from Autauga County Sheriff’s office of Gary Frasier.
An ongoing dispute between an Elmore County man and his former Prattville attorney has now resulted in a second arrest. The first arrest was the arrest of the attorney last week, and this morning it was the former client arrested.
Most recently, Gary Daniel Fraiser, 42, was served a warrant from Prattville Police Department over the weekend for Harassing Communication due to an alleged phone call in October to Prattville attorney Jim T. Norman’s office. This morning, Frasier turned himself in to authorities on that warrant. It is alleged Frasier called Norman’s office and spoke to a staff member using harassing language.
On Friday of last week, Norman turned himself in to the Millbrook Police Department. This came after a probable cause hearing Feb. 13 found there was evidence for the court magistrate to issue a warrant for Harassment against on the attorney. A security video showed Norman entering Frasier’s workplace late last year in Millbrook. The conversation became loud, and Norman can be seen pushing Frasier, who fell to the ground. A scuffle ensued, and Norman soon left the building.
The original dispute is centered around Frasier claiming judicial bias, and he does not feel Norman represented him fairly in a family court case. Norman says he only went to Frasier’s company to talk about the alleged harassing phone call to his staff.
The EA News reached out to both parties, and both offered statements.
Norman said, “It is unfortunate that this happened. First and foremost, when I represent a client, I fight as hard as the law will allow me sometimes to my own detriment. I fought as hard as I could for Mr. Frasier and without going into specifics of his case there was nothing that I could do to satisfy his expectations. As far as the altercation is concerned, nobody regrets that more than I do. However, anyone that witnessed the event, or watched the entire video, can see that I did not go over there for any other reason but to try and hear Mr. Frasier out so that he would not be calling my office and using profanity with my female employees anymore.
“(Frasier) had done this several times throughout my active representation of him. I have not represented Mr. Frasier since March 2023. I do not know why he would feel it necessary to call and curse my staff in November of 2024. Nor do I know why he would have waited over a month to press charges against me or two months to release the video on Facebook other than a personal vendetta. My staff, family and I have endured the wrath of Facebook without having the opportunity to defend ourselves or tell the truth about what really happened. At this point, when I consider everything Frasier has done I cannot in good faith apologize for my actions in protecting my staff and myself from his verbal abuse.
“I grew up in a farming community town in Goshen, Alabama where business was conducted with a handshake and where men respected each other and discussed problems without using profanity against one another. I was taught by my grandfather and father to stand up for myself and I have lived, and I continue to live, with their lessons without regret. Lastly, it is important to note that the probable cause hearing (in his case based in Millbrook) was not conducted by a judge. I am considering challenging the warrant itself or just letting everything play out in court so that everyone can see there is full transparency regarding the circumstances and event that occurred.”
As for Frasier, he said, “The last phone call I made to Norman’s office was in October of last year. It is my assumption that the day (Norman) reached out to me is because I had called his office, and he wanted to confront me about that. I called him on his cell phone, and he said he was on his way to come to the shop to see me. I utilized that opportunity to express my disappointment with the legal services he provided me. It became heated, and (Norman) chose to assault me.”
Frasier said he also has issues with Norman being allowed a probable cause hearing on his harassment charge before he was arrested, but he (Frasier) did not receive the same treatment prior to his warrant being served. He also noted that Norman was allowed to immediately make bond, and an official mugshot was not taken. Frasier said in his case, he was not told he could post bond immediately and was booked into the Autauga County Metro Jail wearing a jail shirt and a mugshot taken. Frasier then made bond, and was released.
In a press release concerning Norman’s arrest issued by the Millbrook Police Department, the photo attached was a driver’s license photo of Norman rather than a traditional mugshot.
As for the probable cause hearing Feb. 13 on allegations against Norman, Frasier says he gave the Millbrook Municipal Court advance notice that he would have a court reporter with him the day of the hearing but was denied the chance to have the hearing on record. “The court said I had not let them know in advance that I wanted a court reporter, but I can prove I did. I wanted everything on the record.”
Moving forward, Frasier said he is hopeful everything will be worked out, but he wants what he calls judicial misconduct to be addressed.
Over this past weekend, Prattville Police Officers went twice to Frasier’s home. The first was for welfare check at the residence which Frasier called “Bogus.” The second was later when Prattville Officers came with a warrant for Frazier’s arrest for Harassing Communications. Frazier claims he feels this is just another way he is being intimidated. He said unlike Norman, he was not given a courtesy call and allowed to turn himself in, though the Prattville officers did tell him he could turn himself in by this morning.
