Public Defender

LANCASTER - A Richmond man serving two life sentences for sodomy was denied a new trial Friday after a judge rejected his allegations of jury tampering. Owen Ray Gadd, 52, formerly of Garrard County, was convicted in 2005 of sodomizing a boy younger than 12 and was given the two consecutive life sentences recommended by the jury. The state Court of Appeals had previously denied Gadd's argument that he should have a new trial because his attorney, public defender Susanne McCullough, had provided ineffective counsel.

Editor's note: The Interior-Journal and the Advocate Messenger are sister newspapers to The Jessamine Journal. STANFORD - A picture is worth a thousand words - in court documents. At least that's the case in Lincoln District Court where the public defender representing a suspect accused in the 2002 murders of two Lincoln County men has filed a criminal complaint against the editor of The Interior-Journal. The complaint alleges that editor George Lewis "violated the confidentiality of a juvenile court proceeding" in late April by taking her client's photo.

Although he's 22 years old, one of the suspects in a six-year-old double murder was arraigned Tuesday in juvenile court, where proceedings are secret and the identities of the accused are withheld. The suspect was 16 when Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton were shot to death in Shangraw's rented mobile home in the Hubble community on Feb. 1, 2002. He was arrested Sunday when he turned himself in to Kentucky State Police in Richmond after learning of a warrant for his arrest. More arrests are expected, say state police, who are seeking DNA from at least one other suspect.

Circuit Judge David Tapp cut Sharon Dale Greer off in mid-sentence: "You don't need to talk except for your attorney. Don't get yourself in trouble. " That admonition came in Lincoln Circuit Court Friday during Mr. Greer's arraignment when he interrupted as Judge Tapp cautioned him about making contact with the woman he is alleged to have shot. "No letters, bouquets, or e-mails," Judge Tapp said. Mr. Greer reportedly had sent a letter from the lockup to his estranged girlfriend, who suffered a shotgun wound to the chest Jan. 10. She spent several days at the University of Kentucky Hospital and was released in mid-January.

STANFORD - A former Lincoln County magistrate pleaded not guilty to assault and wanton endangerment charges Friday in Lincoln Circuit Court. Sharon Dale Greer is accused of shooting former girlfriend Sandra Mullins with an altered double-barreled shotgun at a residence in the Highland community on Jan. 10. Greer, 72, of Waynesburg also is charged with endangering a minor, identified only as A.T., and being a persistent felony offender in...

A Winchester man has a new attorney after his hired attorney withdrew from the case Wednesday morning. Raney Dunn Jr., 45, of 118 Cook Ave., will now be represented by a public defender when his case returns to Clark Circuit Court on March 20. Dunn is facing first-degree assault charges after allegedly slicing Mark Rose's throat following a card game Feb. 3, 2007. According to the arrest citation, the victim, Mark Rose, told police Dunn was in an apartment at 31 E. Washington St. playing cards.

The case of an accused robber infected with the HIV virus was sent directly to a grand jury Wednesday after the defendant waived her rights to a preliminary hearing. Victoria Spoonamore did not appear before Boyle District Judge Jeff Dotson, instead sending word via her public defender that she wanted to have her case go straight to a grand jury. Dotson granted the request. Spoonamore, 29, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, robbery and wanton endangerment charges stemming from a Sept.

Rashae Ford, the 19-year-old charged with several area burglaries, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Boyle District Court. He was assigned a public defender to represent him. Ford, of 120 E. Walnut St., was charged with eight counts, including three counts of third-degree burglary, two counts of theft by unlawful taking more than $300, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, and one count of second-degree criminal mischief. Police say Ford, was found in possession of stolen property in his home that connected him to burglaries at Bate Middle School in October and at Hogsett Elementary School and Wendy's restaurant in November.

Carolyn Foley left Judge Jeffrey Burnett's circuit courtroom Friday with a smile on her face, but not because she was getting out of jail. Burnett declined to reduce Foley's $100,000 cash bond to the $50,000 property bond that Foley's public defender had suggested. Deputies returned Foley to the Lincoln County Regional Jail, where she has been since Nov. 23, when she allegedly drove the pickup that ran off highway 642 near Crab Orchard, hit a concrete bridge barrier and burst into flames.