Archived Court Cases No. 9

Lexington, KY.   Lonnie Ray Lanham's girlfriend of 13 years was taken to the U. K. Hospital with internal injuries.  She made statements to the Emergency Room staff that her boyfriend was responsible.  The woman suffered severe damage to her kidney as a result of the assault. 

As frequently occurs in cases of domestic violence, the victim later sought to drop the charges, claiming that she had fallen and injured herself. The prosecutor refused to drop the charges. Shortly thereafter, Lanham pled guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Lexington, KY.   Police responded to reports of shots fired in the Charlotte Court neighborhood.  When they arrived, they observed Kenneth Dewayne Edwards and other suspects running into a house.  When Edwards left the house, the police stopped him and patted him down.  The officer felt something in his pocket that felt like crack cocaine and asked Edwards what it was.  Edwards replied with an elbow to the officer's mouth.  He then tried to run from the police.

Edwards pled guilty to possession of cocaine, assault and resisting arrest and was sentenced to 5 years.  His sentence was probated after serving less than 2 months.  He failed to show for a substance abuse program and was sent to prison for 5 years.

Lexington, KY.   Police responded to a complaint from a merchant at the Fayette Mall.  Clerks had become suspicious when Gabrielle Warren had attempted to return a unique pair of leather pants that had been specially made for somebody else.  Officers contacted the customer, who confirmed that the pants had been stolen along with other items including a flatware set that had been a wedding present.  Warren was arrested, and, when officers checked his car, they saw the flatware set in plain view on the back seat, along with what was described as "an electronics store" packed into the vehicle.

The car was impounded and when officers executed a search warrant they found several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise, including two VCR's, a camcorder, a television, approximately 200 CD's, a laptop computer, several wallets, watches, jewelry, and a backpack containing burglary tools such as screwdrivers, chisels, and rubber gloves.  Further investigation indicated that most of the items had been reported stolen from vehicles parked at various locations throughout Lexington within a few days of Warren's arrest.

Warren was on parole at the time he was arrested.  He pled guilty to Receiving Stolen Property and Persistent Felony Offender First Degree and was returned to the penitentiary to serve a 10-year sentence in addition to the time remaining on his prior crimes.

Lexington, KY.   A traffic officer running a routine radar detail on Paris Pike during morning rush hour clocked a passing vehicle at 21 MPH over the posted speed limit.  The officer initiated a traffic stop but the vehicle accelerated in an attempt to evade pursuit and went into a nearby residential area, running several stop signs along the way.  The officer followed the suspect vehicle into a cul-de-sac, and the driver of the vehicle rammed the police cruiser on the way out of the dead end.  The pursuit was terminated at that point due to the dangerous behavior exhibited by the driver of the suspect vehicle.

Fortunately, the officer had the make, model, and license plate of the car in addition to a good physical description of the driver.  She was identified as Stacie Sorenson and arrested the next day.  Sorenson pled guilty to Fleeing and Evading Police First Degree and was sentenced to 5 years, probated for 5 years, and ordered to serve 120 days in jail.

Lexington, KY.   Ronny Stutes was convicted of multiple counts of Wanton Endangerment, multiple counts of Assault, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, Driving Under the Influence, and Operating a Motor Vehicle on a DUI Suspended License. Stutes was also convicted of Perjury First Degree, Bail Jumping First Degree and being a Persistent Felony Offender. Stutes was arrested after losing control of his vehicle and causing minor injuries to a number of shoppers, in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Nicholasville Road. Stutes' blood alcohol level was .30, three times the legal limit, and also contained levels of cocaine. 

Damage done to entrance of Wal-Mart

Subsequent to his arrest, it was discovered that Stutes had a number of alias names.  In 1996, he was arrested under the name of Nicholas Cervello for the offense of Theft by Unlawful Taking. At the time of his arrest, Stutes had in his possession a number of documents which indicated that he was about to assume the identity of a deceased individual. At his arraignment in 1996, he stated under oath his name was Nicholas Cervello, only later to identify himself under oath as Mark Landers. He was convicted of First Degree Perjury and Theft. After his release from a state correctional facility in December, 1998, he obtained a driver’s license in the name of Ronny Stutes.. He was arrested in August, 1999 for Driving Under the Influence and Leaving the Scene of the Accident. It was only one month later that he was arrested for his most recent offenses.

Stutes’ case was set for trial on September 13, 2000 at which time, having been released on bond, he failed to appear. With the aid of the Fugitive Task Force he was rearrested some months later. Stutes was sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison.

Lexington, KY.   Officers responded to Loudon Avenue regarding shots that had been fired. Tracy Bright and her boyfriend, Jonathan Combs, had been in an altercation while driving down Loudon Avenue. While in the car, Bright grabbed a gun and began firing at Mr. Combs, twice in the car, and several times outside the car. Bullets were recovered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Gaines and evidence was obtained that Bright had chased Mr. Combs, firing as he ran across the Gaines’ porch, around the back of their home, and to a neighbor's door. One bullet was recovered from the door of Mr. Gaines’ garage, one in a yard ornament beside his porch, and one bullet went through his front window and was recovered inside a kitchen cabinet. Bright was charged with two counts of Wanton Endangerment in the First Degree.

Bright entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 5 years probated for 5 years, with a requirement that she serve 12 consecutive weekends at the Fayette County Detention Center. The Judge also required that she perform sixty hours of community service per year at a location to be determined by Mr. and Mrs. Gaines, if they wished to choose a location, and restitution to be paid to them within 30 days in the amount of $250.

Lexington, KY.   On Friday, March 13, 1998 police stopped a vehicle driven by Robert M. Warren and arrested him for Driving Under the Influence and No Operator's License. A search of his vehicle revealed a rock of cocaine that weighed approximately 2 grams and rolling papers. Warren’s criminal history is significant for misdemeanor convictions for Public Intoxication, DUI, and Sexual Abuse. 

On July 17, 1998, Warren pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance and was sentenced to 2 ½ years, probated for 3 years.  Two months later, Warren tested positive for cocaine. He was ordered to complete a residential drug program, but instead he tested positive for cocaine again and absconded from probation supervision. A warrant was issued for his arrest. Warren was recently picked up on the warrant in Jessamine County.  His probation was revoked and he was sent to the penitentiary to serve his sentence.

Also charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia was Michelle Renee Taylor.  Taylor pled guilty to the crime of possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to a maximum of 2 years, but she was probated for a period of 3 years. 

Givens pled guilty to Trafficking in a Controlled Substance first degree. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but he was probated for 5 years. His supervision was transferred to Michigan.  Six weeks after he was probated, he tested positive for drug use in Michigan and was ordered to return to Lexington, where his probation was revoked and he was sent to prison to serve his 5-year sentence.

All three defendants pled guilty. Cope was sentenced to 5 years.  Durham and Mehlhorn were both sentenced to 1 year.

Lexington, KY.   Jonathan Leach (J.T.) was staying at a friend’s house after he was kicked out of his own home. There was also an eleven-year-old girl staying in the same house. One night the eleven-year-old came into the living room where Leach was sleeping and asked for a cigarette. Leach asked the girl to flash him as a payment for the cigarette. The girl pulled up her shirt and exposed her breasts. Leach then put four more cigarettes on the table and started fondling the girl. The commotion in the house attracted the neighbors' attention and they witnessed the sexual abuse through a window.

Leach pled guilty to sexual abuse in the first degree. He was sentenced by the judge to 2 years in prison, then 3 years of conditional discharge, and a 10-year restraint from contact with the victim.

Lexington, KY.   After concerned neighbors complained to police about people selling drugs in their neighborhood, police responded by sending a bike patrol to check it out. Anthony Wayne Morton and a friend were hanging out on someone’s porch in the middle of the night. Two officers on bike patrol asked what they were doing and they said that they were waiting for Billy. One of the officers knew that the owner of the apartment was not Billy, so Morton and the other man were checked for warrants. The check revealed that Morton had a warrant for probation violation. Morton tried to walk away, but with an outstanding felony warrant, the police were not going to let him. Several bags of crack were then found in his possession.

Morton  had to go back to prison for 3 years for violating his probation and received ten years on top of that for trafficking in crack cocaine.

Lexington, KY.   At approximately 2:40 in the morning, police officers noticed a suspicious vehicle behind the Tates Creek Shopping Plaza. Before they could approach the car, two men ran from the back of the business. They ran past the car and into the woods, with the officers in pursuit. The officers quickly apprehended one of the men, who was identified as Daniel Mickey Ray Hager. As he was being handcuffed and searched, Hager told the officers: "I’ll just tell you I did it." "Did what?" asked police, and he responded that he had "broke into Blimpie." Officers then discovered $89.00 wrapped in Blimpie’s receipts in Hager’s pocket. They inspected the nearby Blimpie franchise and confirmed that it had indeed been broken into. Later the store manager confirmed that $1,113.57 was missing from the store.

Hager pled guilty to Third Degree Burglary and Possession of Burglar’s Tools. He cooperated with the authorities in the apprehension of the other suspect, and was sentenced to 5 years probation.

Lexington, KY.   In September of 1999, Ernest L. Cowherd, 45, pled guilty to one count of Flagrant Non-Support based on his failure to support his 13-year-old child.  His obligation was $30.00 per week, and records indicate that he went over a year without making a payment and had an arrearage of approximately $4,700.  Cowherd's criminal history is significant for several misdemeanor convictions for theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and possession of drug paraphernalia, in addition to two non-support convictions.

In October of 1999, Cowherd was sentenced to 2 years, probated for 5 years.  He recently reappeared before the Court for a revocation hearing.  The Court found that Cowherd had violated his probation by failing to report for supervision and not paying child support, sentenced him to serve 10 days in the county jail and returned him to probation.

Police officers went to Henry Clay High School and arrested Buchanan. During questioning he confessed to the armed robbery, and claimed that others had coerced him into doing it.  Buchanan was sentenced by the judge to 10 years for Armed Robbery. Due to the severity of the crime, a request for shock probation was denied.

Lexington, KY.  

McGoffney, who is known on the streets as "Speedy" or "Psycho," was not located until a week later and first denied to the officers who found him that he had anything to do with the crime. He made other statements that he had acted in self-defense because Andrew was going to shoot him, and then told detectives that a third person was involved in the argument. He testified at trial that this third person was a drug dealer from Detroit who tried to rob him and when he shot at the dealer in self-defense he hit Andrew by mistake. The jury chose to believe the witnesses, who said there were only two people and one weapon involved in the incident.

McGoffney was convicted of Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence. The jury recommended sentences of thirty and five years respectively for the crimes, and the judge imposed the sentences to run consecutively for a total of 35 years in the penitentiary.

Investigation by the Police Department led to the identification and arrest of the suspects.  Jon Smith, whose criminal record shows four misdemeanor theft convictions and who was on probation at the time of the offense, pled guilty to Burglary and Unlawful Transaction With A Minor and was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.  Wendy Smith also pled guilty and was sentenced to 4 years, probated for 4 years.  She has already violated probation once by receiving a conviction for shoplifting but is only required to serve weekends in the county jail as a condition of her probation.

Lexington, KY.   Residents of a Nicholasville Road apartment complex watched in amazement as a van in the neighboring Rally's parking lot first hit the building, then several cars in the lot as the driver attempted to leave the area.  Lexington police responded immediately and a patrol officer approached the van after it hit a car in the Rally's lot.  The driver put the van into reverse, nearly striking the officer, and struck another vehicle in the adjacent Circuit City parking lot.  The van next jumped the curb and ran through the grassy area between the apartment buildings before striking another car.  The driver attempted to flee on foot but was arrested after a scuffle with the officer.  Police recovered numerous cans and bottles of beer from the passenger compartment of the van.

The driver was identified as Mark Farrell, 40.  He refused a breathalyzer test, but when he was treated at the U. K. Medical Center, his blood alcohol level registered at .28, over three times the legal limit.  His criminal history includes prior DUI and misdemeanor convictions for nonsupport, public intoxication, assault and disorderly conduct.  Farrell pled guilty to the felony of Wanton Endangerment and misdemeanors for DUI, Operating on a DUI Suspended License, and Resisting Arrest and was sentenced to serve 1 year in the penitentiary.

Craig pled guilty and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Dixon requested that the Judge give him probation so he could care for his two small children. The Judge stated that he didn’t like it when defendants talked about their babies because they weren’t thinking about their babies when they committed the crimes. The Judge also noted that Dixon had a violent past. The Judge denied Dixon’s request for probation and sentenced him to 26 years in prison for the three crimes.

Lexington, KY.   Officers responded to an alarm at The Winner’s Circle Liquor store on Longview Drive. Upon arriving, officers did not see anyone inside the store. However, minutes later, a loud noise was heard from within the liquor store. At that time, officers saw Mark Banks run from the store. The officers told Banks to stop, but he continued to flee the scene.

Banks ran down the street where he slipped and fell on the ice. However, Banks got back up and continued to run. Officers finally caught up with Banks and he resisted being arrested. In fact, he hugged a tree to prevent officers from arresting him. After prying Banks from the tree, he ran again. The officers caught Banks and arrested him. Banks told officers he knew the owners of the store and he heard the alarm, so he was checking it out for them. But when asked, Banks could not tell the police who owned the liquor store.

Banks pled guilty to charges of Burglary, Resisting Arrest, and Persistent Felony Offender.  He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.