An already bizarre story has taken yet another head-scratching twist as reports from Tuesday night that reportedly emanated from Harvey Updyke‘s attorney have now been shown to be false.
Here’s a piece of the report published last night by Evan Woodbery of the Birmingham News regarding Updyke, who is facing state charges for allegedly poisoning Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner oaks late last year.Harvey Updyke now faces federal charges related to the poisoning of oak trees at Toomer’s Corner in downtown Auburn, his attorney tells WSFA.
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His attorney, Glennon Threatt of Birmingham, told WSFA in Montgomery that Updyke now faces six additional federal charges. Threatt did not provide details and had not yet returned calls.
Wednesday morning, the Opelika-Auburn News has reported that the story whose genesis was apparently on the Birmingham television station has been determined to be incorrect. Instead, the News writes, “a Lee County (Ala.) grand jury has indicted the Alabama fan accused of poisoning the Toomer’s Oaks sometime after the 2010 Iron Bowl on multiple charges, including criminal mischief and the desecration of a venerated object.”
According to court documents, the grand jury indicted Harvey Updyke Jr. on two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, a felony charge; two counts of desecrating a venerated object, a misdemeanor charge; and two counts of unlawful damage, vandalism or theft of property from a farm animal or crop facility, a felony charge.
An arraignment has been scheduled for May 26, with a tentative trial date of June 20. And then, hopefully, within a week or so we’ll never again have to type the name “Harvey Updyke”.
It remains unclear, incidentally, how the erroneous report regarding federal charges originated in the first place.