PELL CITY – The St. Clair County District Attorney Office has recused itself from a murder case involving the alleged murder of a father by his son.

The District Attorney Office recused itself from the murder case involving Robert “Bob” Carleton, 47, of Pell City who is accused of the murder of his 67-year-old father, William “Bill” Randlph Carleton Sr.

St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor said his office recused itself from the case at the request of members of the Carleton family.

“On Oct. 28, 2009 this office received a letter from William R. Carleton Jr., son of William R. Carleton, Sr., requesting that the Office of the Attorney General ‘take over any and all legal proceedings involving the murder and death of my father, William R. Carleton, Sr.’” Minor wrote in his Oct. 30, letter to the Alabama State Attorney’s Office. “Based on numerous discussions with Mr. Carleton, Jr., and his wife Kathy, as well as limited discussions with Deputy Attorney General William Dill, this office now concurs with the request, and I am thereby recusing my office from the prosecution of this case.”

In November, the Attorney General’s Office notified Minor that the state office could not handle the St. Clair County murder case.

“At this time, the Attorney General’s Office is involved in several capital murder cases that demand our full attention,” Assistant Attorney General Donald G. Valeska, II, the division chief for violent crimes, wrote in his Nov. 5, 2009 response to Minor. “As you know from working here, we cover the entire state and it is a logistical problem.”

Valeska said they would appoint another prosecutor for the murder case, and did so last month.

In December, the Alabama State Attorney General’s office appointed Madison County District Attorney Robert L. Broussard of Huntsville “or his designated assistant district attorney” to prosecute the murder case.

“During this assignment, Mr. Broussard will have all of the authority of a District Attorney of this Circuit and may perform such duties that are necessary in connection with this assignment,” Valeska wrote in his Dec. 15 letter to Minor, appointing Broussard’s office to prosecute the St. Clair County murder case.

Carleton, the defendant, was indicted in June after a St. Clair County grand jury found that he intentionally caused the death of another individual, his father.

According to testimony heard in Carleton’s preliminary hearing last year, the son told authorities he shot his father once with a shotgun in self-defense.

He told investigators that his father reached for a .22 caliber Winchester rifle in a gun rack of the ATV the father was driving.

The victim also had a Glock .40 caliber pistol in his possession, which was wrapped in a towel.

St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell said shortly after the alleged murder that the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head.

The shooting happened in March 2009 along an access road to the family’s farm property, along Wolf Creek Road South and approximately four-tenths of a mile north of the Camp Creek Road intersection.

There was an apparent ongoing dispute between the father and son about the family property. Just prior to the alleged murder, St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Charles Robinson ruled in a civil case that the son could have access to the family farm for hunting and fishing.

Robinson is also overseeing the criminal case.

Carleton has remained free on a $250,000 bond. According to conditions of his bond, he must have no contact with the Carleton family, other than his mother, wife and son. He must also remain off the family’s estate, currently involved in litigation.

Minor said murder is a Class A felony punishable by 20 years to life in prison because a firearm was used in the alleged murder.