Nation of jailers.
Several weeks after Winston “Winchester” Hagans got engaged, his fiancee, Hannah Ford, was killed in a car crash.
To celebrate her life, Hagans placed a planter box full of fresh flowers and photos of the two of them on her grave in Auburn, Alabama.
Earlier this year, Hagans was arrested on a charge of criminal littering at the behest of his fiancee’s disapproving father.
Hagans was convicted last week on one count of criminal littering and ordered to pay about $300 in fines and court costs.
"Hagans says Hannah did not like cutting flowers from a florist. She preferred living flowers.
Hagans hand-made a flower box with real flowers and pictures of them together to be left on her grave at Auburn’s Memorial Park Cemetery.
That didn’t go over well with Hannah’s father, Dr. Tom Ford, who signed a warrant against Hagans and ultimately got him arrested for littering.
Ford says his brother-in-law Cliff Knight was the original owner of the grave site. However, after the fourth box out of the nine was placed without permission, Dr. Ford took ownership of the plot sight and discarded the box one after another.
Hagans said Hannah’s father never approved of the relationship, and today, he verbally admitted it when testifying in court. When asked by Hagans’ attorney if Dr. Ford ever approved of his daughter dating the defendant, Dr. Ford answered, “No, I did not approve.”
Hagans admitted he asked the city for permission to place the box on the grave and was told it would be okay unless the family objected. However, he did not expect to go to jail over it.
According to Auburn Parks and Recreation, “Settees, urns, boxes, shells, toys and other similar items may not be placed or maintained on any lot or grave.”
Sari Card, an administrative assistant with Auburn Parks and Recs, said she informed Hagans over the phone to stop replacing the boxes thrown away on the grave. Hagans was told that if he did not stop, there would be legal action that could lead to an arrest. However, she said Hagans did not care and would continue to make the boxes in honor of his fiancé'.
According to documents, Hagans was pulled over on January 4th for an expired tag. Officers ran his tag, only coming back to arrest Hagans stating there was a warrant out for his arrest put out by Dr. Tom Ford."