The immediate eligibility of the Saraland football team for the Class 6A playoffs later this week was one of several issues hanging in the balance Tuesday morning at a preliminary hearing in the case of the Saraland City Board of Education vs. a Baldwin County man.

In emails sent to various media outlets in the past two weeks, John Quinnelly Sr. and private investigator Eric Windberg provided information they say indicates that a 15-year-old Saraland football player should be ineligible because his family violated the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s bona fide move rule.

Saraland and its superintendent, Aaron Milner, filed a lawsuit against Quinnelly and Windberg last week, claiming the two have been “maliciously spreading inaccurate and unfounded information” about the school system. A preliminary hearing was scheduled Tuesday morning in Mobile Circuit Court, but judge Jay York agreed to continue the case until Nov. 21 to allow the defendant’s lawyer more time to prepare.

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The case itself doesn’t necessarily have a direct impact on Saraland’s eligibility for the playoffs. However, if the Alabama High School Athletic Association has opened its own investigation – and attorney Tom O’Hara said it has – that could potentially have a huge impact on the Class 6A playoff race.

“I think they’ve (Saraland City Schools) brought a lot of problems for themselves because my client under the first amendment is just telling the truth,” said O’Hara, lawyer for Quinnelly. “He (Quinnelly) filed a complaint with the Alabama High School Athletic Association in August. They didn’t follow up on that, and now that he has brought the public light on this, the Alabama High School Athletic Association is now re-investigating. We hope they get to the bottom of this and get to the truth. That is all we are asking for. If they want to air this out in court, we welcome that. We’ll fight it out in court.”

AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs has not confirmed whether his association is involved in an investigation into the matter. If the AHSAA is investigating and does find the player’s family in violation of the bona fide move rule, Saraland would likely have to forfeit all games he played in up to this point.

The 9-1 Spartans are scheduled to host Wetumpka on Friday. O’Hara said his client’s evidence points to the fact that the father of the player in question is returning almost daily to a house in another school district and spending nights there on occasion. In Quinnelly’s emails, he stated that Windberg conducted a 48-day investigation into the family’s move.

“It’s a clear violation of the rules,” O’Hara said.

Elizabeth Citrin, lawyer for the player’s family, said the allegations are not true.

“Those are false and that is part of a proper investigation and should be made under the proper authorities,” she said referring to the AHSAA.

In court, Judge York denied a temporary restraining order against Quinnelly and Windberg for the moment, but asked the two parties to agree on certain terms until he could rule further. Citrin said she believed O’Hara defied that request when he met with the media after leaving court.

“We went into the court and told the judge we were going to work out the parameters of a temporary restraining order to keep Quinnelly and Windberg from continuing this rampage against this family and instead he came out and talked to the press and repeated for 6, 7, 8 minutes all of the facts that we are trying to protect the family from that don’t have anything to do with what is going on,” Citrin said. “If there is a complaint that has been made with the Alabama High school Athletic Association, they have the parameters to investigate that complaint. You are not supposed to be digging into the personal life of a family and incorporating four minor children into your investigation. Things have been posted about this family – details about their personal life. They are living in fear for their safety. If anything happens to them, I put that on the backs of Mr. Quinnelly and Mr. Windberg. This is outrageous.”

Citrin accused Quinnelly of having a “vendetta because of circumstances that happened to him and his son years back.” O’Hara confirmed there was another situation of personal interest in the past.

“In 2019, the high school in Daphne forfeited games and was held accountable under the bona fide move rule,” he said. “We would like to see the AHSAA apply it evenly and fairly to all schools. That is all my client has ever asked for and wanted.”

Daphne High School was forced to forfeit a win over Spanish Fort in 2019 when it was determined the Trojans played an ineligible player. Tasha Smith Quinnelly reported on social media at the time that the ineligible player was her son, James Quinnelly.

Saraland’s lawsuit accuses Quinnelly of “stalking and harassing” the player. O’Hara disputed those allegations.

“We hired a professional private investigator who is licensed in Alabama,” he said. “There is no stalking going on. My client didn’t do any of the investigation. We put it in the hands of professional private investigators. Stalking and harassment is absurd.”

Milner gave only a brief statement to the media and didn’t answer questions.

“Unlike other parties in this case, Saraland City Schools and its entities will be taking the proper course of action and be utilizing the legal system to address our concerns,” he said. “We look forward to this coming to resolution. We are confident in our position in the case.”

Nash Campbell, attorney for Saraland, admitted it was unusual for a school system to sue a private citizen.

“This is highly unusual because it is the first time the Saraland City School system has ever been attacked for potentially violating ethics laws and also bid laws,” he said. “That is what made everyone raise an eyebrow and that is what started all this back in July. It kind of spiraled downhill and started involving other things such as athletics. Here we are today. Luckily, we’ve already made headway and certain things have been pulled off social media. I think we are getting some place with the parties on the other side, but I think you will see how this turns out in the long run.”

If the AHSAA is indeed investigating, a ruling would need to be almost immediate as it would involve at least seven teams.

Windberg, the other defendant, was not present on Tuesday.

The AHSAA’s bona fide move rule states, in part, a student whose parents make a bona fide move completely out of one school zone into another may transfer all his/her rights and privileges to the member school that serves the area wherehis/her parents reside. If the change of school precedes the bona fide move on the part of the parents, the student is ineligible until the parents make a bona fide move.

Some of the factors, the AHSAA determines in judging a bona fide move include:

a. The household furniture of the family must be moved into an unoccupied house or

apartment.

b. All principal members of the family must reside in the new place of residence.

c. The original residence should be closed, rented or disposed of and not used by the

family.

d. Nine months at the new residence will be required to make a move bona fide.