Murder Case

Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Burdette sentenced Brent Whittaker, 28, of Pulaski County, to serve two 20-year sentences for the wanton murder of John and Lavanda Rowland of Berea in July of last year. As part of a plea agreement reached in July with Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery, Whittaker's two sentences will run concurrently, but consecutive to a probated seven year sentence that he received for an assault in Pulaski County in 2006. The Rowland's were killed on July 9, 2010, when an intoxicated Whittaker crossed the center line of US 27 and crashed his pickup into the Rowland's northbound sedan.

The acquittal in July of Casey Anthony in a first-degree murder case in Florida had the media buzzing about the justice system. Marcia Clark, who was the losing prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson “Trial of the Century” in 1994, and who should know whereof she speaks, opined that juries in capital murder cases (where the defendant could suffer the death penalty) are reluctant to convict unless the evidence is overwhelming. She stated on one TV talk show that the concept of reasonable doubt - which is the high bar that must be overcome in such cases - has become the escape window that juries can use to justifiably avoid making such a harsh judgment.

Another murder case may be settled by felony mediation, rather than by plea agreement or jury trial. On Thursday afternoon, attorneys for Robert Deskins and prosecutors told Clark Circuit Judge Jean Chenault Logue that they had agreed to try mediation next month in hopes of resolving the case. Last week, mediation was approved in another homicide case involving the death of a 17-day-old infant. That case was the first in Clark County to go to mediation. According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, mediation is a voluntary method to try and reach an agreement in a case.

LIBERTY - A Casey County man entered a guilty plea in a six-year-old murder case just before his trial was to begin Wednesday morning.Ronnie Evans pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and second-degree burglary in the 2005 shooting death of George Green. The deal comes with a recommended prison sentence of six years.Commonwealth's Attorney Brian Wright said he will argue that Evans should serve that time when he is sentenced by Casey Circuit Judge James Weddle on June 20. “I will oppose probation,” Wright said.

The grandparents and mother of a 10-month-old girl who died from a methadone overdose will face a jury in November. On Thursday afternoon, Clark Circuit Judge Jean Chenault Logue scheduled the trial for the child’s grandparents, Cheryl Kirkwood-Black and David Black, and the child’s mother, Brooks Ecton, for Nov. 14 in Winchester. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Charles Johnson said he was still waiting for DNA evidence, but said the trial would proceed whether the evidence comes back in time or not. Logue wanted to set the trial in September, but two of the defense attorneys had conflicts, which pushed the case to November.

STANFORD — When Jason Napier goes on trial for murder next month, the outcome appears likely to rest squarely on the testimony of his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Noble. “The only evidence against my client is this woman,” defense attorney Ted Shouse said during a hearing Friday in Lincoln Circuit Court. How much of Noble’s past will be allowed in during the trial, scheduled to begin March 28, remains a serious bone of contention as Napier’s attorneys prepare his defense against the charge he beat Noble’s 4-year-old son, Nathaniel, to death in July 2009.

Six months after a crash on Colby Road killed one passenger and seriously injured another, the driver waived the charges to the grand jury. Robert Deskins, of 203 Cherokee Drive, was already facing a driving under the influence charge from the August 2010 crash, but was charged with murder, first-degree assault and first-degree wanton endangerment in December. Deskins was allegedly intoxicated and behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry when it crashed into a tree. Kyle Rupard, a passenger, was killed while Deskins and Justin Sammons, another passenger, were seriously injured.

STANFORD — A murder case originally scheduled for trial later this month in Lincoln Circuit Court has a new date and a new face involved. Jason Napier, 33, of Stanford is accused in the July 2009 beating death of 4-year-old Nathaniel Knox. Napier’s trial, scheduled to begin Feb. 11, has been moved to March 28. He remains in jail under a $250,000 cash bond. Nathaniel’s mother, Jessica Noble, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal abuse and complicity to second-degree manslaughter in the case last year and is serving 15 years in prison.

With Dr. Steven Hall’s murder trial less than two weeks away, defense attorneys are asking that prosecutors clearly define under the law the direction they will take in trying to prove he killed his wife with a pontoon boat on Herrington Lake last summer. In a motion filed Friday in Boyle Circuit Court, attorney Gregory Sims requests that Commonwealth’s Attorney Richie Bottoms disclose how he intends to proceed at Hall’s trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 16. According to the motion, Kentucky Revised Statutes state a person may be guilty of murder if they intentionally cause the death of another person, or wantonly engage in conduct that creates a grave risk of death and thereby causes death.