Jury Trial

A jury trial of the lawsuit against former-Judge Executive Buckwheat Gilbert and County Treasurer Teresa Padgett scheduled for Dec. 5 was postponed as all three parties in the case agreed to mediation outside of court. Cynthia Portwood, formerly a secretary at Planning and Zoning, filed a complaint in 2008 seeking damages from Gilbert and Padgett alleging the pair “intentionally, wantonly, willfully and maliciously communicated false and defamatory statements” about her. Portwood had left her job at P&Z before it became known that $20,000 in collected fees was missing.

STANFORD - Tanya Shelton, the woman accused of taking a newborn baby from Fort Logan Hospital in April, was treated and released at the hospital Sunday for undisclosed injuries. She has since been placed on suicide watch in isolation at the Lincoln County Regional Jail, according to the jail. The jail, the hospital, and her lawyer, Ted Dean, all declined to comment on the extent of her injuries. Shelton was arrested on kidnapping and burglary charges after allegedly taking newborn Grayci Barrows from the hospital in April.

The following cases were resolved Sept. 9 in Clark Circuit Court with Judge Gary D. Payne presiding. - Patrick Allen Watkins, murder, jury trial completed, found guilty, recommended life sentence, sentencing Oct. 9. - Joy Renee Watkins, murder, jury trial completed, found guilty, recommended life sentence, sentencing Oct. 9. The following cases were resolved Sept. 4 in Clark Circuit Court with Judge Gary D. Payne presiding. - Zacchaeus Elsaadiq Hunter, first-degree fleeing or evading police, amended to second-degree, pleaded guilty, 360 days; tampering with physical evidence, pleaded guilty, one year; attempt to sell simulated controlled substance, pleaded guilty, 90 days.

One man awaits a jury trial while two others have status hearings scheduled and each case, though unconnected, involves sex crimes, according to court documents. Kenneth Sammons Sammons, 35, of Fork Church Road, Lancaster, has a status hearing scheduled for Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. in Jessamine Circuit Court. He is charged with first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree persistent felony offender. He was arrested Aug. 4, 2010, after a 10-year-old female alleged that Sammons had sexual contact with her private area while lying together in bed, according to court documents.

HARRODSBURG - When Paul Estes goes on trial for murder Monday, there will be no attempt to deny that he smothered Debora Brooks with a pillow and tied a paper bag over her head to finally suffocate her. Estes has already admitted that much to police in a tape-recorded statement that will be played during the trial. What Estes is hoping is that the jury seated to decide the case can be persuaded that he deserves a sentence no worse than Meghan Brooks, who received 17 years after pleading guilty earlier this year to second-degree manslaughter, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in her mother's death in 2009.  “He has taken responsibility for his actions.

A former Clark County deputy sheriff accused of illegally distributing the drug hydrocodone while carrying a firearm has accepted a plea agreement in U.S. District Court. Johnathon Bradley Myers pleaded guilty before Judge Joseph M. Hood on Nov. 30 to one count of distributing a quantity of Lortab pills, which contain hydrocodone, and to one count of carrying a semiautomatic pistol during the crime. Myers originally pleaded not guilty on Oct. 3 to two counts of drug trafficking and two counts of carrying a firearm, with a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 5. According to a federal grand jury indictment filed Sept.

A series of decisions by the U. S. Supreme Court continues to effect criminal sentences throughout the country causing some states to fear that thousands of defendants' sentences might be lowered. Beginning in 1999, the Supreme Court dealt with claims by federal and state prisoners that judges were unconstitutionally increasing sentences based on factors which are not admitted by the defendant or determined to exist by juries. Under the Sixth Amendment any fact which exposes a defendant to a greater potential sentence must be found by a jury, not a judge, beyond a reasonable doubt.

LANCASTER — She huffed about Supreme Court precedents and she puffed about the unconstitutionality of Lancaster’s licensing fees, but when it came judgment time Thursday in Garrard District Court, Lisa Smith folded her hands, paid up and went home. “I caved,” Smith said outside the courtroom minutes after she coughed up $10 for a business license and $50 in administrative fees for paying late. It was a humbling moment for Smith, who lives in Lincoln County and owns a home in Lancaster, which she rents out. She came to the newspaper earlier in the week to talk about her plans to challenge the Lancaster ordinance requiring landlords to purchase a $10 license for doing business in the city.

The couple charged with killing their 16-day-old son will have to wait until April before having their jury trial. Christopher Chandler, 24 of Georgetown, and Amanda Tolson, 23 of 348 Hill St., were on the docket for a trial beginning Oct. 25 in Winchester. Thursday, prosecutors asked to continue the trial due to the process of having some of the evidence in the case analyzed. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Heidi Engel said experts witnesses for the defense have not had the opportunity to review some of the evidence yet, and prosecutors want to review the experts’ reports once they have finished.

The city of Danville has appealed a March ruling from Boyle Circuit Court awarding punitive damages and lost wages to a firefighter who challenged Danville Fire Department's promotion process. Stephen T. King was awarded $29,911 by a jury that found the city was "arbitrary and capricious" in not promoting King to lieutenant in the fire department in April 2000. King was awarded the difference in wages from that time until Feb. 26, 2003, a total of $4,911. The jury also ruled the city acted "with fraud, oppression or malice" in its promotional process and awarded King punitive damages of $25,000, plus attorney fees and interest.