Kentucky Law Review

CRIMINAL NEWS: Marine charged with rape to be tried in court, but discharged from Marines

From Courier Journal.  Marine's military discharge does not stop the civilian charges against him from going forward.

Marine in rape case discharged from service

The Courier-Journal • December 16, 2008

A Marine recruiter who has been charged with two counts of third-degree rape in a case involving a 15-year-old Valley High School student was discharged from the Marine Corps late yesterday, according to a press release from the corps.

Arthur Pledger Jr., 27, pleaded not guilty to the charges yesterday at an arraignment in Jefferson Circuit Court.

After allegations were made against Pledger, the Marine Corps initiated its own investigation and removed him from all of his recruiting duties and issued a military protective order to prevent contact between him and the alleged victim and any other students, the release said.

CRIMINAL: Two Eastern Ky therapists sentenced for defrauding Medicaid

I just came across this blog out of Lexington - On the Beat in the Bluegrass:

2 Eastern Ky. therapists sentenced

By H-L Justice Team on Uncategorized

Herald-Leader Staff Report

Two Eastern Kentucky therapists accused of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program have accepted a plea agreement.

Vanessa Rouse, a speech pathologist from Deane in Letcher County, and Janice Fields, a developmental interventionist from Happy in Perry County, pleaded guilty to medicaid fraud, a class D felony, and were sentenced Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court, according to a news release issued Monday by Attorney General Jack Conway’s office.

Under terms of the agreement, both Fields and Rouse will serve five years probation, thus suspending a one year prison sentence for both women, according tot he release. As a condition of their probation, each of them was o

CRIMINAL: Judge Sets Hearing in bid tampering case

From Herald Leaders Pol Watcher's blog:

Judge sets hearing in bid tampering case

By jstamper@herald-leader.com (Pol Watchers) on State Government

NEWS: Louisville attorney William Ayers acquitted of charges of illegal bail bondsman

Here are some of the recent news stories regarding the criminal trial of attorney William Ayers who was acquitted after a 3-day trial in Jefferson Circuit Court.  Stories are by Andrew Wolfson of the Courier Journal:

• Attorney accused of posting bonds
  Ex-clients: He's known among jail inmates
  
  Today, Louisville defense attorney William O. Ayers goes on trial in the first of two cases in which the commonwealth alleges he illegally operated as a bail bondsman -- three decades after the practice was abolished in Kentucky.
  
• Lawyer acquitted of illegal-bail charges
  Verdict resolves first of two cases
  
  Louisville attorney William O. Ayers was acquitted yesterday in connection with allegations that he illegally posted a $250,000 bond for a capital murder defendant through the defendant's sister.
  

COURTS: " Former priest back in court for plea deal violation "

From Wave3:

Former priest back in court for plea deal violation

SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A former catholic priest on probation for sex abuse charges from the 1980's faced prison time in a Bullitt County courtroom Wednesday.

The Kentucky Supreme Court overturned Daniel Clark's conviction for testimony errors, but Clark pleaded guilty before the second trial. As part of the plea deal, Clark was supposed to sign up for a sex offenders program and had not until the threat of going back to prison.

"If he gets back into his program and accepts responsibility, there may be some help for him. But he has abused many more victims than those that have come forward and what he is convicted of," said Tom Weitter, a spokesperson for Clark's victims.

Clark was accused of abusing 19 boys in various lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Louisville. The archdiocese paid out more than $30-million to settle those and other cases against catholic priests.

JEFFERSON: Judge Rules County Can't Withdraw Plea Bargain in Clarkson case

From Courier Journal (click on heading for entire story):

Judge says plea bargain must stand
Attorney sought harsher terms

By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • November 8, 2008

Insurance executive Robert "Bobby" Clarkson, who seriously injured a motorcyclist while driving drunk in June, will get to keep a plea bargain that Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell says is "ridiculously lenient."

A Jefferson District Court judge ruled yesterday that O'Connell cannot withdraw the deal, which was negotiated by an assistant prosecutor under O'Connell's predecessor, Irv Maze.

During a contentious 90-minute hearing, O'Connell said the terms of the deal, in which Clarkson's felony-assault charge was amended to careless driving, were never presented to Judge David Holton II, who accepted the plea.
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CRIMINAL NEWS: "Attorneys urge court to halt Nov. 21 execution"

From Courier Journal (click on heading for entire story):

Attorneys urge court to halt Nov. 21 execution

Associated Press • October 28, 2008

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A confessed child killer who asked to be put to death should not be executed because he may be incompetent, defense attorneys argued yesterday in a motion before the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Marco Allen Chapman's execution was scheduled for Nov. 21 after the Supreme Court upheld his sentence last week. Chapman, 36, would be the first inmate put to death in the state in nearly 10 years.

News: Accused bigamist sentenced for bank fraud

Accused bigamist sentenced for bank fraud Over the tearful objections of one of his former wives and another witness, who asked for a harsher penalty, accused bigamist George W. Dumstorf Jr. was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for providing counterfeit certificates of deposit.

CRIMINAL CASES: Fayette "Jury acquits man charged in truck-wash slaying"

From Kentucky.com:

Jury acquits man charged in truck-wash slaying

After deliberating for 14 1/2 hours over two days, a Fayette County jury found Marc Buchanan not guilty on all counts in a 2003 slaying at a Lexington truck stop.

Buchanan, 25, who was charged with murder and robbery in the slaying of Carl Gene McClung in August 2003, was to be released from the Fayette County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon. The verdict was reached about 1:45 p.m.

"I think the jury did what a jury is supposed to do," defense lawyer Scott Drabenstadt said. "They held the Commonwealth to their burden. There just wasn't sufficient evidence here."

CRIMINAL CASES: Jefferson Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin set Dec. 4 for the sentencing of Jared Steen, 20, who has been released on bond.

From community notes in the Courier Journal:

 
A jury yesterday recommended a five-year prison sentence for a Louisville man convicted in a fatal wreck on Crittenden Drive last year.

Jefferson Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin set Dec. 4 for the sentencing of Jared Steen, 20, who has been released on bond.

On Wednesday the jury found Steen guilty of second-degree manslaughter and operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicants in the May 4, 2007, crash that resulted in the death of Robert Lyle, a passenger in the car.

The two men were northbound in the 5000 block of Crittenden near Louisville International Airport when Steen lost control in a sharp curve and the car hit a curb, sending it airborne, according to a police report.