Dismissal

LANCASTER - A lawsuit blaming two city police officers for the death of a man during a police chase in 2009 has been dismissed. Garrard Circuit Judge Hunter Daugherty sided with officers William Lake and Tim Royce in granting a summary judgment dismissing a lawsuit filed by Carol and Kenneth Plummer, whose son, Brandon Plummer, died a head-on collision on Fall Lick Road. Brandon Plummer, 21, was killed when Carlos Cunningham - who was being pursued by the officers at a high rate of speed - crashed into his pickup truck.

All criminal and felony charges against Jessamine County Sheriff's Sgt. David Mudd were dismissed by a Jessamine County grand jury last Friday after testimony and related evidence was deemed inadequate to prove unlawful behavior. The case stemmed from a dispute between Mudd and Constable Chauncey Tudor, which occurred Oct. 29, 2011. Tudor filed a complaint that alleged the deputy sheriff “attempted and threatened physical confrontation,” and committed an act that was an “unauthorized exercise of his office duties.” He also claimed his life was “endangered” when he narrowly avoided being stuck by Mudd's patrol car that night.

The Jessamine County school district's communication system was put to the test last week as severe weather threatened the area twice, both times when students were scheduled to be headed home on buses. Schools were set for early dismissal on a scheduled half day last Wednesday, Feb. 29, when Jessamine County received a tornado warning as a storm approached from the southwest. Buses with elementary-schoolers hit the road after the warning passed, but a second tornado warning forced them to find the nearest safe location to stop, superintendent Lu Young said.

A man has filed a lawsuit against a Danville company alleging he was wrongfully fired because he came to work with a pistol in his vehicle. Troy Abbot of Gravel Switch filed the complaint against Berry Plastics Corp. last week in Boyle Circuit Court demanding injunctive relief allowing him to immediately return to his old job. A hearing date has not yet been set. According to the lawsuit, Abbot was fired July 25 after he violated a policy prohibiting “handguns on company premises” when a pistol was discovered in plain view inside his locked vehicle on the Berry Plastics property on Lebanon Road.

Cleveland Indians outfielder and Jessamine County resident Austin Kearns had his lawyer enter a conditional guilty plea to a drunken driving charge for him in Jessamine County District Court Tuesday morning. The conditional guilty plea allows Kearns and his attorneys to appeal District Judge Janet C. Booth’s earlier decision to deny dismissal of the case, and Kearns’ lawyer Noel Caldwell said that's exactly what they plan to do. Kearns was pulled over by off-duty Lexington police officer Todd Hart on Feb. 12 in Jessamine County after Hart had observed Kearns’ Cadillac Escalade driving erratically on U.S. 68, according to a sheriff’s report.

Danville City Commission didn't directly address the elephant in a packed room Tuesday and stuck  to discussion of how the city water plant project will affect rates and the upcoming budget. An executive session scheduled to discuss personnel appointment was not held after City Attorney Vince Pennington said hiring an attorney to present the city’s case in a hearing over City Manager Paul Stansbury’s dismissal could be addressed in open session. Pennington recommended the City Commission hire Jeffrey C. Mando of Adams, Stepner, Woltermann and Dusing, a northern Kentucky firm with specific experience dealing with termination hearings.

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips is making it clear that he’s taking a strong no-nonsense approach to this season. First, he dismissed four-star tight end Alex Smith from the team a few weeks ago for “violation of team rules” and said parting of the ways was best for UK and Smith, a player many thought had the tools and skills to be a Jacob Tamme-type tight end for the Wildcats. Now sources close to the football team have confirmed that sophomore linebacker Jewell Ratliff of New Orleans has also been dismissed from the team.

Jessamine Circuit Judge Hunter Daugherty dismissed without prejudice the sodomy case against Jordan Pike, 29, of Nicholasville, on stipulation of probable cause, according to court documents. In addition to the first-degree sodomy charge, charges of first-degree wanton endangerment and second-degree persistent felony offender were also dismissed. The case stems from an incident in June 2010. Pike was indicted by a Jessamine County grand jury on July 23, 2010, and pleaded not guilty on Aug. 30, 2010.

Heritage Hospice has asked that a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former employee be dismissed, saying it is without merit. In response to a lawsuit filed in February by Dawn Summerville of Harrodsburg, Hospice denies allegations that Summerville was fired in November 2010 in retaliation for applying for worker’s compensation benefits. Hospice contends Summerville, who had worked at the Danville agency for five months, was fired after she verbally threatened to assault a co-worker.

More paperwork has been filed in Jessamine County Circuit Court in a lawsuit file involving the city attorney, mayor and a resident of Wilmore. In January, Hal Snowden Jr. of Wilmore filed a complaint against Wilmore City Attorney Robert Gullette and Mayor Harold Rainwater, alleging they conspired against him as the owner of Roseglade Farm, but the case may not reach a trial, because in the past two weeks, Gullette and Rainwater have filed individual...