| Criminal
Justice News |
Every Monday -- check WKYT.com
for the latest "A
Message from Ray the D.A."
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| American
D.A. - LIVE
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Forensic
Friday
Every Friday
9 am
WVLK 590 AM
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|
Officer
Don's Crime/Safety Prevention Tip
|
Attorney
General Conway Urges Consumers to Consider
Toy and Product Safety this Holiday Season
Attorney General Jack Conway
urges Kentucky consumers to consider toy and
product safety information when making
holiday purchases.
"I want
the holidays to be as safe and happy as
possible for Kentucky families," said
General Conway. "Being aware of the
latest product safety measures and recall
information can prevent potential injuries and
possibly save lives."
A guide to the
latest toy and product recall information is
available through the Office of the Attorney
General's website at http://tinyurl.com/yckyenb.
Consumers can also find product recall
information through the Consumer Product
Safety Commission's (CPSC) website at www.cpsc.gov
. The CPSC is the federal agency responsible
for developing safety standards for thousands
of products from toys to power tools with the
goal of protecting the public from
unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death.
When the CPSC
identifies a dangerous product, it issues
alerts and can require the manufacturer to
issue a product recall. For Fiscal Year 2009,
the CPSC completed 465 cooperative recalls
involving 229.6 million consumer product units
that either violated mandatory standards or
presented a substantial risk of injury to the
public.
Other
Important Holiday Safety Tips:
Follow
recommended age ranges on toy packages.
Read
instructions carefully before allowing your
child to play with a toy received as a gift.
Be aware that
children age three and younger can choke on
small toys and toy parts with a diameter of
one and three-quarters of an inch or smaller.
Be careful with
gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons and bows.
These items can cause suffocation and choking
hazards to a small child.
Remove strings
and ribbons from toys before giving them to
young children.
|
| Sheriff
Kathy Witt |
|
Fugitives
Wanted by the Fayette County Sheriff's
Office
|
WANTED
|
|
|
|
Marianne
Lanee Collins
|
|
Assault
2nd
|
DOB: 7/1/1977
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 130
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue |
Click
here to
see who is wanted by the Fayette County
Sheriff's Office.
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TOP
STORIES
Straight
Talk From Ray the D.A.
When it comes to our
high-crime neighborhoods, the
"Let Them Eat Cake" crowd is
alive and well.
Straight
Talk From Ray the D.A.
Newspaper
apparently wants the public to
"trade-off" their safety
for smaller prison budget.
Straight Talk From Ray
the D.A.
Rats!
What lousy timing. Cop-killer
Maurice Clemmons joins Willie
Horton as brutal reminders of
why law-breakers go to prison
in the first place.
American D.A. - LIVE
Case #1:
GPS, a great tool to prevent
domestic violence.
Case #2: The Cease-Fire
Project - a program designed
to prevent gang and gun violence.
Kentucky's
Death Row
Details
about the case of Kentucky's Death Row
inmate Ralph Baze.
Recent Court Case
Online
contact leads to guilty plea.
Conviction
results in registration for sex
offender.
Information
Center
Want to know what
cases were Indicted, Dismissed, or
Transferred Back To District Court
by the Grand Jury and what cases
are set for Trial? Check it
out here.
Who
is on Home Incarceration in
Lexington?
Convicted
criminals in the Home
Incarceration Program (HIP) in
Lexington.
Recent
Circuit Court Sentencings
Who went to
prison and who was probated.
|
| Straight
Talk From Ray the D.A. |
|
When It Comes To Our
High-Crime Neighborhoods, The
"Let Them Eat Cake" Crowd Is
Alive And Well
 There
are limits to what our
government will do, or even
should do, to protect you from
crime. That's what
anti-incarceration activist
Robert
G. Lawson
thinks. Here's exactly what he
said:
"A
reduction in the
prison population .
. . would begin to
sound a necessary
warning that there
are limits beyond
which the state
should not and will
not go in its
efforts to protect
the public against
the commission of a
crime."
Professor
Robert G. Lawson,
University of
Kentucky College of
Law |
Just whose safety does
Lawson think is not worth
protecting? It doesn't take
much to figure that out. It is
our fellow citizens who live
in high crime neighborhoods
that "the state should
not and will not protect from
crime." So, to those who
live in high-crime
neighborhoods, Lawson's
attitude, from the safety of
academia, is clear -
"It's not my problem -
you deal with it!"
Lawson and his anti-incarceration
accomplices remind me of Marie
Antoinette's legendary and condescending
statement about the suffering and starving
peasants in France. "Let
Them Eat Cake," she
reportedly said. She was really not
concerned about the plight of the less
fortunate French peasants who were
starving to death while she lived in the
lap of safety and luxury.
The same can be said about
anti-incarceration advocate Robert G.
Lawson and his accomplices in the
legislature, academia and on editorial
boards about crime in Kentucky. Crime and
its impact is not a real big problem for
them. Most of them live in relatively
well-to-do, upper middle income, and
mostly white neighborhoods. Crime doesn't
affect them much, because crime doesn't
happen much in their neighborhoods. They
don't face the constant concern for their
safety or the safety of their kids
and grandchildren. Fear of crime really
doesn't appear on their radar screen. In
their world, like Marie Antoinette's,
everything is just fine.
Not so for our high-crime
neighborhoods. In these neighborhoods,
everything is not just fine.
Unfortunately, those neighborhoods are too
often lower socio-economic and
predominately minority. The residents of
these neighborhoods are
afraid of crime and criminals. Their
lives are
affected by crime, and they expect our
police and prosecutors, Judges, and jails
and prisons to do everything possible to
protect them from criminals.
So, in Lawson's world, if you live in a
high-crime neighborhood, you may be out of
luck. Be advised you residents of
high-crime neighborhoods, if Professor
Lawson has his way, there are limits on
what will be done or even what should be
done to protect you from crimes and
criminals.
The message from Lawson and his
anti-incarceration gang is pretty clear:
"Not
my problem. You deal with it. And, by the
way, HAVE SOME CAKE!"
|
| Straight
Talk From Ray the D.A. |
|
Newspaper Apparently Wants The
Public To "Trade-Off" Their
Safety For Smaller Prison Budget
"The
public, including crime victims, will
support penal 'reform' if their
leaders communicate the reasons and
trade-offs in straight-forward,
unemotional terms."
Editorial
opinion, Lexington Herald-Leader,
12-01-09
Trade-off
what? Our safety?
The
editorial writers at the Lexington
Herald-Leader apparently
expect the rest of us to gladly give up
our safety to save money in the state
prison budget. They call it a
"trade-off". Not only that,
they actually suggest that if we
communicate the reasons for giving up
our safety in "straight-forward and
unemotional terms" that everyone,
including crime victims, will
enthusiastically jump on board the
"Get Out of Jail Early"
express.
Try telling the residents of the
high-crime neighborhoods of Lexington
that they should trade their safety to
benefit the prison budget.
Unfortunately, the citizens who live in
those neighborhoods are far too often
predominately lower socio-economic and
minority. Furthermore, these are the
very neighborhoods to which
repeat-offenders return when released
from jail and prison.
Aren't these high-crime neighborhoods
entitled to same sense of safety as
those who live in our more affluent and
mostly-white neighborhoods? Of course
they are, and no amount of
"straight-forward and
unemotional" conversation would or
should convince them to
"trade-off" their safety.
Such a statement is evidence of just
how out-of-touch they are with us
average citizens who simply want and
expect our government to do everything
it can to keep us safe from
law-breakers.
Then there is the matter of their
definition of "Reform." Reform
to them seems to mean less
accountability for criminal behavior,
less punishment, and less incarceration
for criminals who commit crimes.
To most of us, and especially crime
victims, leaving people on our streets
after they have committed crimes is
nothing more than a reward for illegal
behavior. That's not "reform,"
that's retreat. To crime victims and
most of the public, their definition
represents a retreat to the bad-old-days
of higher crime rates and more victims
of those crimes and criminals.
Like
Congress, "they aren't listening to
us."
|
| Straight
Talk From Ray the D.A. |
|
Rats! What Lousy Timing.
Cop-Killer Maurice Clemmons Joins
Willie Horton As Brutal Reminders Of
Why Law-Breakers Go To Prison In The
First Place
 |
|
Willie
Horton, left, & Maurice
Clemmons
|
Just when Kentucky's Supreme
Court gave a unanimous "Thumbs-Up"
to our Legislature's "Get
Out of Jail Early"
scheme to release
convicted criminals before they have
served their sentences;
And just when Senator Robin
Webb was proclaiming the cost
savings and protection of the public
afforded by the early release of
prisoners;
And just when the Lexington
Herald-Leader was
giddy over the decision of the Supreme
Court and gushing over the wisdom of the
"Get Out of Jail Early"
program:
Maurice Clemmons
screwed it all up. Clemmons, you will
recall, made national news recently and
served as a dramatic and brutal reminder
why law-breakers are sent to prison in
the first place. You remember Maurice
Clemmons. He's the convicted criminal
who was let out early - then gunned down
four Tacoma, Washington police officers.
So in Kentucky's "rush to
release" convicted criminals early
from our jails and prisons - what is
being done to guarantee that Tacoma's
tragedy won't happen right here in
Kentucky?
The "let'em
out" bunch says
"but nobody can guarantee that
felons who are released early won't
commit another violent crime."
Sure you can! They won't re-offend if
they are still in prison.
That's what the public expects!
|
| American
D.A. - LIVE |
|
Case
#1: GPS, A Great Tool
To Prevent Domestic Violence
 |
|
Rep.
Greg Stumbo
|
Greg
Stumbo, the Speaker of the
Kentucky House of Representatives, has
proposed a law to permit GPS
(Global Positioning System) monitoring of
individuals deemed by the Courts to merit
such scrutiny. The proposed law will
be considered by the Kentucky General
Assembly in January of 2010.
 |
|
Dr.
T. K. Logan, Mary Houlihan, &
House Attorney Pierce Whites
|
Mary Houlihan, Director of
Victim's Services for the Office of the
Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney, and Dr.
T. K. Logan, nationally
recognized expert in the area of domestic
violence research, appeared on the December
4, 2009 episode of American
D.A. - LIVE
to discuss Stumbo's
proposal and other issues surrounding this
topic with host Jack
Pattie and Fayette
Commonwealth's Attorney Ray
Larson.
Click
here to listen to the program.
Case
#2: The Cease-Fire Project -
A Program Designed To Prevent Gang And Gun
Violence
 |
|
Erin
Hayne & Brad Bryant
|
The Cease-Fire
Project began in
2001. It is a multi-agency law
enforcement prosecutor program designed to
investigate and prosecute armed and
dangerous criminals who use firearms in
the commission of crimes in Fayette
County. In the nine years of its
existence, the Cease-Fire
Project has
prosecuted over 1,500 gun-related cases,
with a 98% conviction rate.
Cease-Fire
Coordinators and prosecutors Brad
Bryant and Erin
Hayne appeared on
the December 11, 2009 episode of American
D.A. - LIVE
to discuss this aggressive and successful
program with host Jack
Pattie and Fayette
Commonwealth's Attorney Ray
Larson.
|
| Kentucky's
Death Row |
|
Kentucky's Death Row Inmate Ralph
Baze
 |
|
Ralph
Baze - then and now.
|
Ralph Baze
Male/White, 36-years-old at the
time
Victims: Sheriff Steve
Bennett & Deputy Arthur
Briscoe
Ralph
Baze resided in
Powell County, Kentucky. He
had been convicted twice of
felonies and was wanted in Ohio
for Assault of a Police Officer,
Bail Jumping, Receiving Stolen
Property, and Flagrant Nonsupport.
On January 15, 1992, the Lucas
County Sheriff's Office in Toledo,
Ohio, notified the Powell County
authorities that they wished to
extradite Baze on the felony
counts. When Deputy Sheriff Arthur
Briscoe arrived at Baze's cabin to
arrest him, Baze escaped through a
trapdoor, retrieved his SKS
assault rifle from behind the
cabin, and fled into the woods.
Deputy Briscoe left to recruit
additional officers to assist in
the arrest. He came back, followed
by Sheriff Steve Bennett.
Gunfire ensued. Later, Baze
testified that Deputy Briscoe had
shot him first, striking him in
the leg. Baze shot back at the
officers. Sheriff Bennett opened
the back door of the police
cruiser, crossing directly into Baze's line
of fire. Baze shot him three times
in the back and then started to
walk toward Deputy Briscoe, who
continued to shoot at Baze over
the hood of the cruiser until he
ran out of ammunition. Baze was
too close to give him time to
reload. Deputy Briscoe attempted
to escape, but he was shot in the
back by Baze, who then approached
the injured officer and shot him
in the head at point-blank range.
Baze then fled on foot to
adjoining Estill County where he
surrendered without incident that
evening. Ralph Baze was tried in
Rowan County, convicted, and
sentenced to death in February
1994 for shooting the officers.
Additional facts about
the case:
Aggravating
circumstance which made this
case eligible for the Death
Penalty: the murder of a
sheriff and deputy sheriff,
while in the line of duty, and
multiple murders.
Length of appeal to date:
15 years. Was previously
scheduled to be executed in
2007.
This killer wants pen
pals. This is part of his
webpage request. What a
guy!
 "Hi
my name is Ralph and I am a Death
Row inmate. I am looking for a few
pen pals that like to write and
maybe help get some of my paper
work transferred to computer disk.
Trying to work with and through
the system is not getting me
anywhere so I need to be able to
find a voice on the outside of
these walls to help me get my
story out. Hopefully finding a
friend or 2 along the way too.
Would like a relationship with the
right lady that could be more then
Pen pals. Times get lonely in
here."
|
| Recent
Court Case |
|
Online
Contact Leads To Guilty Plea
Conviction
Results in Registration for Sex Offender
 |
|
Defendant
Jerry Humphries
|
In early 2008, a fifteen-year-old
boy disclosed that he had been
taken to an apartment in the Tates
Creek Road area by an older man
and subjected to a variety of
sexual activity.
Investigation by the Crimes
Against Children Unit of the
Lexington Police Department led to
the identification of the suspect
as Jerry
Humphries, age 54.
Interviews with the suspect and
victim revealed that they had met
through an adult online website.
Examination of telephone records
showed contact between the two
approximately an hour before the
suspect met the victim on the
street near his home and drove him
back to his apartment. The
suspect admitted to initiating the
sexual encounter but claimed that
the boy told him he was 20 years
old.
Humphries, who has no criminal
history in Kentucky, pled guilty
to Sodomy in the Third Degree and
will be sentenced in January of
2010. He is eligible
for probation, which may or may
not be granted by the Court.
A condition of his sentence will
be registration as a sex offender.
|
| Information
Center |
|
The
Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney's Office
Criminal Trial Schedule is updated each
Monday. To see our trial schedule, click
here.
To
see the latest returns, including Indictments,
Dismissals and cases Returned to District
Court, click on the dates below:
Week of
November 30, 2009:
Week of December
7, 2009:
|
| Who
Is On Home Incarceration In Lexington? |
|
| Convicted
Criminals In The Home Incarceration Program
(HIP) in Lexington
Inmates who are nearing the end of their
sentences can be placed into the Home
Incarceration Program (HIP)
under certain circumstances. Offenders
who are part of this program are technically
still incarcerated; however, they are placed
in the community under electronic monitoring
rather than being behind the walls of a
correctional facility.
To learn the identity of the inmates
presently in the Home Incarceration Program
in our community, click
here.
|
| Fayette
Circuit Court Sentencings |
|
Circuit
Court Sentencings
Wednesday,
November 25, 2009
|
|
|
8th
Division - Judge Thomas L.
Clark
|
|
|
MCGHEE,
Bobby Tyrone
Age: 35
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail for the
prosecution's amended charge
of Receiving Stolen Property
(Misdemeanor), probated
2 years.
|
|
|
RODRIGUEZ,
Samuel
Age: 18
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 5 years in prison for 2nd
degree Assault and 1 year in
prison for 1st degree Wanton
Endangerment, to run
concurrently for a total of
5 years in prison. Sent
to prison.
|
|
|
SHELTON,
Demetrius Andre
Age: 35
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail for the
prosecution's amended charge
of 2nd degree Stalking, 12
months in jail for 2nd degree
Fleeing or Evading the Police,
and 12 months in jail
for Violation of a Kentucky
EPO/DVO, to run concurrently
for a total of 12 months in
jail. Sent
to jail.
|
|
|
|
| Fayette
Circuit Court Sentencings |
|
Circuit
Court Sentencings
Thursday,
December 3, 2009
|
|
|
7th
Division - Judge
Ernesto Scorsone
|
|
|
BROOKS,
Craig Dwayne
Age: 39
|
|
|
REPEAT
OFFENDER: Sentenced
to 5 years in prison
for 3rd degree
Burglary and status as
a Persistent Felony
Offender and 12 months
in jail each for 2
counts of the
prosecution's amended
charge of 1st degree
Criminal Trespass, probated
5 years.
|
|
|
CLAY,
Donald Ray
Age: 46
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 1 year in prison
for Sale/Purchase of
Credit/Debit Card From
Persons Other, probated
3 years. Ordered
to pay $180.95 in
restitution.
|
|
|
SMITH,
Tonya E.
Age: 38
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 1 year in prison
for 1st degree
Possession of a
Controlled Substance/
Cocaine, probated
5 years. In a
separate case,
sentenced to 5 years
in prison for 2nd
degree Assault, both
cases to run
consecutively for a
total of 6 years in
prison, probated
5 years.
|
|
|
WRIGHT,
Justin Cornelious
Age: 19
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of 4th
degree Assault. Sent
to jail.
|
|
|
Circuit
Court Sentencings
Friday,
December 4, 2009
|
|
|
3rd
Division - Judge James
Ishmael
|
|
|
ALLEN,
Corey Ray
Age: 32
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 6 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of
Criminal Attempt Make
False Statement to
Prevent Reduction of
Benefit, probated
1 year.
|
|
|
CORNWELL,
Jason Troy
Age: 33
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 5 years in prison
for Theft by Unlawful
Taking and 1 year each
for 3 counts of Theft
by Unlawful Taking, to
run consecutively for
a total of 8 years in
prison. Sent
to prison. Ordered
to pay $100,000 in
restitution.
|
|
|
MILLS,
Steven Michael
Age: 39
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 1 year in prison
for Theft by
Deception, include
Cold Checks over $300,
probated
5 years. Ordered
to pay $4,530 in
restitution.
|
|
|
REYNA-ORTIZ,
Luciano
Age: 24
|
|
|
ILLEGAL
ALIEN: Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for Resisting Arrest, conditionally
discharged
to Immigration Customs
Enforcement holder.
IMMIGRATION
CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
(ICE) NOTIFIED.
|
|
|
4th
Division - Judge
Pamela Goodwine
|
|
|
BOYD,
Herman JR.
Age: 27
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of 4th
degree Assault, probated
2 years.
Ordered
to pay $5,593.51 in
restitution.
|
|
|
CAYSON,
Terry Lynn
Age: 20
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 1 year in prison
for the prosecution's
amended charge of 1st
degree Possession of a
Controlled Substance,
12 months in jail for
Leaving the Scene of
an Accident, 14 days
in jail for Operating
a Motor Vehicle under
Influence of Alcohol
or Drugs, 14 days in
jail for Operating on
Suspended/Revoked
Operator's
License, 5 days in
jail for Failure of
Non-Owner Operator to
Maintain Required
Insurance, and 14 days
in jail for Alcohol
Intoxication, to run
concurrently for a
total of 1 year in
prison, license
suspension for 12
months, $155 court
fine, and probated
5 years.
|
|
|
GODFREY,
Dominique Phillip
Age:
19
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of
Receiving Stolen
Property, probated
2 years.
|
|
|
HALL,
Laura
Age:
31
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of
Theft by Deception and
12 months in jail for
Falsely Reporting an
Incident, to run
concurrently for a
total of 12 months in
jail, probated
2 years. Ordered
to pay $1,000 in
restitution.
|
|
|
KAYS,
Regina
Age: 44
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
each for 3 counts of
3rd degree Possession
of a Controlled
Substance, to run
concurrently for a
total of 12 months in
jail, probated
2 years.
|
|
|
STEWART,
Darryl R.
Age: 32
|
|
|
REPEAT
OFFENDER: Sentenced
to 10 years in prison
for 1st degree
Trafficking in Cocaine
and status as a
Persistent Felony
Offender and 1 year in
prison for Bail
Jumping, to run
consecutively for a
total of 11 years in
prison. Sent
to prison.
|
|
|
TURNER,
Shaunacey Mariea
Age: 22
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 12 months in jail
for the prosecution's
amended charge of
Possession of Drug
Paraphernalia 1st
Offense and 12 months
in jail for
Endangering the
Welfare of a Minor, to
run concurrently for a
total of 12 months in
jail, probated
1 year.
|
|
|
|
8th
Division - Judge
Thomas L. Clark
|
|
|
CLOS,
Charles Allen
Age: 46
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 1 year in prison
for Flagrant Non
Support, probated
5 years.
|
|
|
CURTIS,
Ronald Dean Sr.
Age: 50
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 3 years in prison
for Trafficking in
Marijuana, 8 oz. to
< 5 lbs. 1st
Offense, probated
4 years.
|
|
|
9th
Division - Judge
Kimberly Bunnell
|
|
|
JOHNSON,
Ebony
Age: 37
|
|
|
Sentenced
to 2 years in prison
for 2nd degree
Criminal Possession of
a Forged Instrument,
12 months in jail each
for 3 counts of the
prosecution's amended
charge of Attempt to
2nd degree Criminal
Possession of a Forged
Instrument, and 12
months in jail for the
prosecution's amended
charge of Attempt to
Tampering with
Physical Evidence, to
run concurrently for a
total of 2 years in
prison, probated
5 years.
|
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