[AL] Imprisoned former cop Phelps loses his appeal

...The appeals court said it agreed with the prosecution that evidence of a protection order against Phelps and his arrest for violating it were relevant to show motive for wanting his ex-wife killed...

Previous entry:
[AL] Deputy Phelps' plot to have ex-wife & her boyfriend killed gets him 25 years ...Cullman County Sheriff's Deputy James Brian Phelps - who has also worked as a U.S. air marshal and as a police officer in Arab, Douglas, and Guntersville Police Departments - was sentenced Friday for his domestic murder-for-hire plots...

Appeals court upholds Arab man's conviction
He was charged with plot to kill ex-wife, her friend
Times Montgomery Bureau
Huntsville Times
Friday, June 27, 2008
MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the conviction of an Arab man on charges of trying to hire someone to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend. James Brian Phelps of Arab, a former U.S. air marshal, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Marshall County Circuit Judge Tim Riley. Phelps was convicted Aug. 24, 2007, of two counts of solicitation to commit murder after a weeklong trial... an FBI agent posed as a hitman after a U.S. air marshal Phelps worked with in Chicago told his supervisor that Phelps wanted to see his ex-wife's photograph on a milk carton... [Phelps] told the appeals court that Riley should have granted his motion for acquittal because the state did not provide enough evidence to show Marshall County as the proper place for his trial. The appeals court said the state showed Phelps lived with his parents in Arab after he left his job as an air marshal and continued to work in Arab after he moved to Blount County. The evidence shows Phelps received phone calls about the murder-for-hire plot while he was at work, said the court, and his intended victims lived in Marshall County... Phelps also said Riley should not have allowed the jury to hear about his arrest for domestic violence and his ex-wife testify that Phelps had been "locked up." The appeals court said it agreed with the prosecution that evidence of a protection order against Phelps and his arrest for violating it were relevant to show motive for wanting his ex-wife killed. [Full article here]
A few notes from past news:

Mar 2, 2005
Deputy Phelps is fired... "There's been cases not just in Alabama, but all over the nation, police officers being arrested for domestic violence. Like I said domestic violence is a control issue and violence is part a tool the perpetrator will use against an intimate partner to maintain control," Todd Adams, Boaz Police Deputy Chief, said... Sources say Phelp's wife put out that restraining order and there had been previous domestic disturbance instances...

Mar 31, 2005
... no bond set after he allegedly tried to hire someone to kill his ex-wife and her friend... The arrest was Phelps' fourth in the last month... Phelps is a former Cullman County deputy and had also worked for the Guntersville and Douglas police departments.

Aug 29, 2007
A former Cullman County Sheriff’s Deputy was found guilty in Marshall County Circuit Court Friday on two counts of soliciting someone to kill his estranged wife and her boyfriend...

Oct 07, 2007
...James Brian Phelps of Arab, a former U.S. air marshal, was sentenced Friday to 25 years... Phelp's ex-wife, Jamie Phelps, urged Riley to grant her ex-husband probation... An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation posed as a hitman, Waldrop said, after a U.S. air marshal Phelps worked with in Chicago told his supervisor that Phelps wanted to see his ex-wife's photograph on a milk carton...