West Virginia
Sheriff’s deputy charged with violating suspect’s civil rights
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia sheriff’s deputy was charged with a federal civil rights violation after he allegedly punched and pepper sprayed a suspect, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
Monongalia County Deputy Lance Kuretza, who was arrested Thursday, also is accused of writing a false report on the January 2018 incident, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Kuretza, 38, subjected the suspect to excessive force by punching and elbowing him in the face. After the suspect was handcuffed, he was hit and pepper-sprayed, resulting in bodily injury, according to the indictment.
On his report, Kuretza claimed he used pepper spray before the suspect was handcuffed. The deputy’s report also omitted documentation of force used after the suspect was handcuffed.
The civil rights violation carries a maximum punishment of 10 years upon conviction and the falsifying charge carries a 20-year punishment.
The indictment did not detail what led to the arrest. The FBI is investigating the case.
Kuretza has been placed on paid administrative leave, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Tennessee
Appeals rulings at odds over Confederate-themed jury room
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two Black men who challenged their criminal convictions after jurors deliberated in a Tennessee courthouse room containing Confederate symbols have received opposite rulings from different judges on the same appeals court.
One was granted a new trial. The other was denied.
The conflicting decisions likely mean the matter will be appealed up to the state Supreme Court to sort out the discrepancy.
The rulings from two three-judge panels of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals center on trials held at the Giles County Courthouse, putting jurors in a room adorned with items maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, including an antique Confederate flag and portraits of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. John C. Brown. In June, a state commission approved plans to move the artifacts to a museum, The Tennessean reported.
This week, a panel of judges ruled unanimously against a new trial for Barry Jamal Martin, who went to trial in February 2020, was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The ruling says that none of the jurors testified to “even noticing or being aware that the memorabilia was in the room.” The decision also questioned whether an average person would be able to recognize who was in the portraits or what the flag meant.
“While we certainly do not condone the presence of the memorabilia in the jury room, we conclude that the Defendant failed to show that any specific extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention or improperly brought to bear upon any juror (or grand juror),” Judge John Campbell Sr. wrote in the ruling.
Last December, three other judges from the court ruled unanimously that Tim Gilbert deserved a new trial for charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting arrest. His trial took place in March 2020 and he had been sentenced to six years in prison. The Tennessee Supreme Court declined to take up the state’s appeal in that case.
“Because Giles County may not convey any message to the jury, we conclude that permitting the jury to deliberate in a room filled with Confederate memorabilia exposed the jury to extraneous information or improper outside influence,” Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. wrote in December.
In this week’s ruling, however, the judicial panel reasoned that the previous decision was not the kind that creates precedent that the judges had to follow.
The same attorney, Evan P. Baddour, has represented both Martin and Gilbert.
The two cases included various other arguments by their attorneys against their convictions. In Gilbert’s case, the judicial panel ruled that a new trial was also needed because the trial court made a mistake by allowing a challenged witness statement.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy were first allowed to put their initials, U.D.C., on the room’s door in 1909 after helping to furnish the room with tables, chairs and other items following a fire at the courthouse, the local grand jury’s foreman at the time previously testified in court.
The Giles County Courthouse is in Pulaski, where the Ku Klux Klan was founded.
Kentucky
3 troopers indicted on federal charges
LONDON, Ky. (AP) — A federal indictment accuses current and former Kentucky State Police troopers of using excessive force during an arrest and conspiring to cover it up, authorities said.
A grand jury in London indicted Kentucky State Troopers Jeremy Elliotte, 28; Michael L. Howell, 32; and former Trooper Derrek Lovett, 30, according to a statement Wednesday from U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier.
The indictment alleges that Elliotte and Lovett assaulted and injured a victim without justification, the statement said. It says Elliotte, Lovett and Howell then conspired to conceal the force and the circumstances under which they used it.
Howell was previously indicted in June for conspiracy and obstruction charges, but the superseding indictment charges all three men with conspiracy and with trying to prevent communication of information to federal law enforcement about the alleged offenses, the statement said.
The defendants developed a cover story about what happened that was as close as possible to what a recording would show, in case the assault had been recorded, the indictment said.
It also alleges that Elliotte unlawfully entered a home on the night of the assault, which deprived the residents of their right to be free from unreasonable searches.
WDRB-TV reports the charges stem from the arrest of Bradley Hamblin, who was badly bruised when he was booked on arson charges in Whitley County. Hamblin filed a lawsuit in December 2020 that said training used by state police led to a “brutal beating” that left him with several fractured bones in his face.
Each man faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy and obstruction charges, authorities said. In addition, Elliotte and Lovett face up to 10 years for the deprivation of rights charge related to the alleged assault, and Elliotte faces up to one year for the deprivation of rights charge related to the alleged unlawful entry.
A court date for the three has not yet been set. An attorney listed for Howell did not immediately return a message seeking comment. It wasn’t clear if the others have attorneys.
