April 11, 2018
Expanding the Circle to Reach All Victims: Lexington Crime Victims’ Rights Luncheon 2018.
Today’s Honorees: Child and Family Therapist Jonna Sears and therapy dog Bodhi; Asst. United States Attorney Rajbir Datta; Assistant County Attorney Byron Ockerman; Crime Victim Survivor/Community Activist Anita Franklin; Forensic Nurse Anita Capillo; Legal Aid of the Bluegrass attorney Catherine DeFlorio.
Hosts: Fayette Commonwealth Attorney; United States Attorney Eastern District; Fayette County Attorney; Fayette County Sheriff; and the Lexington Police Department.
Thank you to the Crime Victims’ Advocates from each agency for planning and executing this wonderful event.
And a BIG THANK YOU to our crime victim survivors who attended and shared their stories in our video From Victim to Survivor. It will be posted separately on our FB page.
November 22, 2017
Michael Poe was sentenced Friday, November 17 to seven years in prison for Manslaughter Second Degree and Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol with an Aggravating Circumstance.
On April 3, 2016, after consuming a quantity of beer, Poe took a friend’s 2015 Ford Mustang for a joyride on Athens-Boonesboro Road in Lexington. Poe overshot a turn at a high rate of speed, sending the car flying off the road, causing it to roll over, and killing his passenger, Nick Rucker. Police investigation revealed that Poe had a .170 blood-alcohol level. Poe admitted to drinking a pitcher of beer prior to getting behind the wheel.
Rucker was a National Guard soldier and a student at Eastern Kentucky University who had been one semester away from graduating. The university later awarded Rucker a posthumous degree. During the pendency of the case against Poe, Rucker’s adoptive mothers, Diane Clift and Libby Charlton, worked to secure the March 2017 passage of House Bill 222, which removed the possibility of shock probation in future DUI homicide cases.
Poe entered a guilty plea on September 22, 2017. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, November 17, Clift spoke passionately about the impact that Rucker’s death had on their family and the community at large, and asked that Poe be remanded to custody. Judge Thomas Travis refused probation for Poe and remanded him to custody to begin service of his sentence.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Barnett and investigated by Det. Tyler Smith, LMPD.
October 19, 2017
Awareness-Prevention-Prosecution! Doing our part to stop domestic violence.
#LexStopDV #TogetherWeCan #WearPurple
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From the Office of Lou Anna RedCorn
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney
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Hello! We’re making changes. We recently established a Special Victims Unit, to prosecute crimes committed against Lexington’s more vulnerable victims.
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Show your support by
wearing purple on
Thursday, October 19th
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Meet our Special Victims Unit
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I am pleased to announce the creation of a Special Victims Unit (SVU) within the Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Office. This unit will prosecute crimes committed against some of Lexington’s most sensitive and vulnerable victims. These are victims whose lives are significantly changed by the nature of the crimes committed against them.
The SVU will handle cases involving domestic violence, sexual assaults, human trafficking, serious physical and sexual abuse of children, and physical abuse and neglect of the elderly. The Assistant Commonwealth Attorneys who will work in this unit asked for this assignment and they will receive specialized training for investigating and prosecuting these cases, to ensure that offenders are held accountable and that victims are protected, able to restore safety in their lives, and have a voice in the criminal justice system.
Prosecutors from left to right: Traci Caneer, Kate Webster, Kathy Phillips, Rewa Zakharia, Lou Anna RedCorn, Todd Willard, Aaron Ann Cole, and Kimberly Henderson Baird. Also to include Amanda Naish (not pictured).
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Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kathy Phillips and former Crime Victim’s Advocate Robin Anderson believe every child should have a great costume for Halloween festivities. To make belief a reality, they formed Caring Costumes in 2016, and dressed many Fayette County children for Halloween. It’s that time of year, and Caring Costumes is collecting gently used costumes once again.
Robin and Kathy have cleaned the donated costumes and will be distributing them on Saturday, October 21, 10:00 at Gardenside Christian Church. Spread the word!
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Kentucky Supreme Court upholds DUI “look-back” law
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Those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs will face enhanced penalties for prior DUI convictions within the last ten (10) years. In 2016, the DUI law was amended to expand the period of time, from five (5) years to ten (10) years, that prior DUI convictions could be used to enhance a current DUI charge.
Use of the 10 year look-back was challenged in courts around the state, including Fayette County. The issue was resolved last month when the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the ruling of a Warren Circuit Court Judge who had disallowed the use of prior convictions, older than 5 years, from applying to current DUI charges.
According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Kentucky in now with the majority of states that have look-back laws of ten (10) or more years.
Read the entire opinion.
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“Why I am a Victim’s Advocate”
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Crime Victims Advocates occupy a unique and necessary place in the criminal justice system. They are professionals trained to support victims of crime. Advocates offer victims information and emotional support, help with finding resources and completing paperwork, and often accompany victims to court. Advocates may also contact organizations, such as criminal justice or social service agencies, to get help or information for victims.
Meet three of our amazing advocates: Our Director of Victim’s Services, Mary Lynn Houlihan, and advocates Brianna Persley and Blerina Gojani, and hear what motivates them to work on behalf of crime victims.
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Lou Anna RedCorn
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney
116 N Upper Street, Lexington, KY 40507
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