FOR INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT
Hannah Greene
communications@whereismyland.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:4/10/2024
Huntsville, AL: Over twenty years ago, 70-year-old Carrie Matthews was unlawfully kicked off of the only land she knew in adulthood. Now, her descendants, alongside Where Is My Land, are demanding restitution from the crooked law firm that blatantly defrauded their family and the Alabama court system.
“Instead of bearing the fruit of our ancestors’ labor and love, every time we pass our land, we are reminded of the blatant injustice done to my grandmother,” LeKeisha Garner, a family spokesperson said.
Attorney Douglas Martison II carried out a sinister plot to steal Carrie Matthews’s land after her husband, Pierce Matthews, passed. Carrie’s grandparents, Ed and Nona Hayden, deeded 22 acres of land to the couple. After he died, Pierce bequeathed all his belongings to his daughter, Marzie Matthews Patton, and named her executrix of his estate. His will does not mention the property nor describe real property owned.
After kicking Carrie Matthews off her land, Douglas Martinson requested a private sale of the property, claiming that Marzie Patton had a co-owner deed. Rather than force the attorneys to produce a deed, Judge Fay issued the order for the sale despite lacking subject matter jurisdiction.
Martinson eventually owned the land and went on to profit millions of dollars by leasing and selling portions of it to businesses such as CVS, Aldi, Mapco, Petco, Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Crestwood Hospital Clinic, and others.
On February 6, 2023, Martinson and Beason, along with the other co-defendants, admitted in a quiet title action that, “no co-owner deed exists.” Every sale that Martison carried out on the 22-acre plot of land was fraud.
“Attorneys Douglas Martinson II should be disbarred for his decades-long lie that allowed him to steal Black land and profit off of its sale unapologetically,” says Kavon Ward, CEO and founder of Where Is My Land.
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