Archive for the 'Courts' Category

Fen-phen jury: Gallion and Cunningham guilty on all counts

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on April 3, 2009
in U.S. District Court
. 11 Comments
By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — After deliberating for two days, seven women and five men convicted William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. of conspiracy and eight counts of wire fraud.

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

This is the second trial for Gallion and Cunningham on charges that they took millions of dollars from 440 former clients in a 2001 fen-phen settlement. Their first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deliberated for eight days but could not reach a verdict. Melbourne Mills Jr., who was originally charged with Gallion and Cunningham, was acquitted by the same jury.

Prosecutors say Gallion and Cunningham lied and deliberately told half-truths about what happened to the $200 million settlement so all of the lawyers on the case could keep the bulk of the settlement.

Defense attorneys said that Gallion and Cunningham knew little about class-action law at the time the case was settled. If mistakes were made ,those mistakes were unintentional, they argued.

Stephen Dobson, a lawyer for Cunningham, said there was little evidence or testimony that showed that Cunningham was directly involved in the negotiations of the settlement or how the money was disbursed after the case was settled.

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Teens to be sentenced for roles gang killing

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on April 2, 2009
in Fayette Circuit Court and Lexington police
. 10 Comments
By Shawntaye Hopkins - shopkins@herald-leader.com

Two teens who pleaded guilty in February to charges related to the murder of a fellow gang member in 2007 are scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning.

Manny Erevia, 16, pleaded guilty to murder and Jose Cruz, 17, pleaded guilty to facilitation to commit murder. Both are expected to appear in Fayette Circuit Court for sentencing Thursday morning.

Luis Quiroz, 19, was found shot in a car on Trailwood Lane on Dec. 21, 2007.

Erevia admitted that he was the one who shot Quiroz. He said he called the victim, met him and told him they were going to commit a robbery, which was a lie. Instead they went to Trailwood Lane, where Erevia called several other men. Erevia got out of his vehicle, walked to the passenger side where Quiroz was sitting and fired a 9mm handgun at Quiroz’s head.

Erevia left in a vehicle with the other men.

Quiroz was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital where he died.

Erevia said Matthew Robey, 27, told him to kill Quiroz, and he had to comply with orders because Robey was at a higher rank within the Latin Kings. Erevia said Julio Varges-Torres, 18, supplied him with the gun.

Robey pleaded guilty last month to first-degree complicity to manslaughter and second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor. He said he ordered gang members to beat up Quiroz, not to kill him.

Vargas has pleaded guilty to criminal facilitation.

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Closing arguments to begin in fen-phen trial

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on April 1, 2009
in U.S. District Court
. 2 Comments
By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Closing arguments are likely to begin Wednesday in the retrial of two disbarred Lexington-area lawyers accused of taking $94 million from their former clients in a diet-drug settlement.

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

This is the second trial on wire fraud and other charges for William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr., and it’s just the latest chapter in the legal saga over what happened to a $200 million settlement in Boone Circuit Court.

In July, a federal judge declared a mistrial after a jury in Covington deadlocked on whether Cunningham and Gallion were guilty of wire fraud. Melbourne Mills Jr., a third lawyer who also was part of the $220 million settlement, was acquitted by the same jury.

Prosecutors say Gallion and Cunningham refused to disclose the amount of the total settlement to their clients, paid them less than they were supposed to and falsely told them that they would go to jail if they told anyone how much they received from the settlement. Gallion and Cunningham, under their contracts with their clients, were to receive approximately a third of the settlement, but they took more than half, prosecutors say.

Defense lawyers say Gallion and Cunningham were inexperienced with mass-tort or class-action law and that any mistakes were unintentional. The former lawyers were following the advice of famed Cincinnati trial lawyer Stanley Chesley and the original judge on the case, they have argued.

The retrial, which began Feb. 19 in federal court in Frankfort, nearly ended in a mistrial for Gallion after his lawyer suffered health problems during the trial. But O. Hale Almand, a Georgia attorney who has represented Gallion in both trials, was able to return to court, saving his client from a possible third trial.

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Driver who fled fatal UK hit-and-run gets 5 years

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 20, 2009
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 15 Comments
By Brandon Ortiz - bortiz@herald-leader.com

A Fayette County judge imposed the maximum sentence Friday on a man who was convicted of fleeing the scene of a crash that killed a University of Kentucky freshman last spring.

Connie Blount

Connie Blount

Shannon Houser

Shannon Houser

Shannon Houser, 37, was sentenced to five years in prison for tampering with evidence and leaving the scene of an accident. A jury had recommended six years by asking for the tampering and fleeing sentences to run concurrently, but by law the toughest sentence that Circuit Judge James Ishmael could impose was five years.

Early on April 13, Houser struck Connie Blount, 18, with his pickup. Blount, who investigators have said crossed Broadway against the light, had knelt down in the street, according to testimony.

Blount’s father, Jack, was disappointed that Houser was not prosecuted for murder. He said he’s angry that Houser will be eligible for parole after serving a year.

“Our legal system is a mess,” Jack Blount said.

Police have said that Houser removed the grill and bumper of his truck. But his attorney argued that Houser was not trying to conceal anything, noting that Houser did not wash the truck or try to hide the bumper.

Houser has said that he did not realize that he had hit Blount, who was studying equestrian science at UK.

But Ishmael told Houser on Friday that his explanation defies common sense.

Jack Blount said he will appear before the parole board when Houser is eligible.

“To me, he appears to have accepted no responsibility for what he did,” Jack Blount said. “He just shows no remorse. It is just shocking.”

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Attorney’s illness causes concern, delays in fen-phen case

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 17, 2009
in U.S. District Court
. 5 Comments
By Brandon Ortiz - bortiz@herald-leader.com

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

FRANKFORT — The retrial of two former lawyers accused of taking millions of dollars from their clients has been postponed until Thursday morning because a defense attorney is ill.

Georgia lawyer O. Hale Almand, who represents William Gallion, became dizzy about 4 p.m. Monday in U.S. District Court. Testimony ended early for the day.

It was the third time the trial has been postponed due to Almand’s health. The trial was delayed for a week the first week in March.

Almand’s health triggered concerns that U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves might have to declare a second mistrial. But Almand told a lawyer who is temporarily representing Gallion that he just needs rest and expects to be ready for trial Thursday.

Almand has an ear infection that affects his balance, Reeves said.

Cunningham and Gallion are accused of taking $94 million that should gone to former fen-phen diet-drug users in the 2001 settlement of a $200 million lawsuit.

Federal prosecutors and Cunningham’s lawyer, Stephen Dobson, told Reeves they want to avoid a mistrial. The judge said he would research whether he can declare a mistrial for Gallion but continue the case for Cunningham.

Coffey was ordered to report back on Almand’s condition by Wednesday afternoon. Reeves was to conduct a hearing at 4 p.m. if Almand is not feeling better.

Cunningham and Gallion’s first trial resulted in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict. A third lawyer, Melbourne Mills Jr., was acquitted.

Cunningham and Gallion are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy.

Prosecutors were questioning their final witness on Monday. The former lawyers are expected to present their case after the last witness concludes his testimony.

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Agent: Man wanted victim’s testicles, eyeballs and thumbs

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 12, 2009
in U.S. District Court
. 8 Comments
By Steve Lannen - slannen@herald-leader.com

Robert H. Barnett

Robert H. Barnett

A 70-year-old man accused of trying to contract a murder allegedly told an undercover federal agent that he wanted the testicles, eyeballs and thumbs of his intended victim.

Investigators say Robert Barnett of Magoffin County tried to arrange the murder of a man who owed him money in Huntington, W.Va.

During a detention hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Lexington, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent laid out the case against Barnett.

Special Agent Jesse Hooker said Barnett gave him a machine gun with a silencer and a .22-caliber pistol to be shot at the victim’s head at close range to ensure death.

Barnett also allegedly said he planned to have other people either kidnapped or killed, including a doctor in Columbia, Md., who used to practice in Paintsville, and four people in Salyersville.

Hooker posed as a hit man from Reno, Nev., when he met Barnett at a Mount Sterling motel. When Barnett requested the body parts be brought to him, the agent said he could bring the body parts, but it would probably kill the victim.

Barnett then allegedly said he preferred to not have the man killed, but he understood.

“‘Do what you have to do. Leave him laying on the floor,’” Hooker recalled Barnett saying.

Barnett was to pay $10,000 for the hit — $1,000 of which would go toward the purchase of the machine gun.

Agents arrested Barnett March 6 outside a truck and supply store in Salyersville.

During Thursday’s hearing, Barnett’s attorney, Cullen Gault, argued that his client should be released on bond. Gault said Barnett is a longtime resident and family man in Salyersville, and, aside from a “blip on the radar screen,” he had a clean record.

That blip was from the early 1980s, when Barnett was tried on charges that he mailed a bomb to a man, who lost his legs and part of a hand when the bomb exploded. Barnett was acquitted of the crime.

The judge decided against that request and ordered that Barnett remain in the Fayette jail.

Gault said the agent’s testimony was only the government’s side of the story.

“We’ll tell ours through the court system,” he said. Gault declined to elaborate, and several family members declined to comment afterward.

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Woman pleads guilty in shooting of husband, says it was self-defense

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 5, 2009
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 3 Comments
By Steve Lannen - slannen@herald-leader.com

Sandra G. Lubben, 40, was charged with murder in the March 2007 shooting death of her husband, David, at 3505 Greenlawn Road in Lexington.

Sandra G. Lubben, 40, was charged with murder in the March 2007 shooting death of her husband, David, at 3505 Greenlawn Road in Lexington.

A woman pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless homicide in the 2007 shooting death of her husband.

Sandra G. Lubben, 40, was charged with murder in the March 2007 shooting death of her husband, David, at 3505 Greenlawn Road in Lexington. At the time, several family members said he abused her.

On Thursday in court, Lubben admitted she shot and killed her husband, but said it was in self-defense. Reckless homicide carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Lubben’s attorney said there will be a “ton of evidence” showing that Lubben should be treated with sympathy.

She will be sentenced on April 25.

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Man indicted in October shooting outside Lexington strip club

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 5, 2009
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 0 Comments
By Steve Lannen - slannen@herald-leader.com
Bobby Douglas Faulkner

Bobby Douglas Faulkner

A Fayette County grand jury has indicted a man for the shooting of a Haitian man outside a Lexington strip club in October.

Bobby Douglas Faulkner, 26, is accused of shooting Ludger Janvier, 32, multiple times in the torso, nearly killing him.
Police found Janvier injured at 2:45 a.m. Oct. 9 on a corner near Russell Cave and New Circle roads — not far from Diva’s Gentleman’s Club on Russell Cave Road.

Douglas, who faces a charge of first-degree assault, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Fayette Circuit Court.

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Judge delays Fen-phen retrial until Thursday

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 3, 2009
in U.S. District Court
. 0 Comments
By Steve Lannen - slannen@herald-leader.com

The federal trial of two Lexington-area lawyers accused of bilking their clients out of millions of dollars in settlement money will resume on Thursday.

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

Shirley Cunningham Jr. (left), William Gallion (right)

Proceedings were suspended until 8:30 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court trial in Frankfort due to illness, according to an order filed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves. The filing does not provide any details about the illness.

Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion are accused of cheating their former clients out of $94 million in a settlement of the fen-phen diet drug lawsuit. They are standing trial on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

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Alleged fake doctor to face grand jury

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on March 3, 2009
in Fayette District Court
. 2 Comments
By Steve Lannen - slannen@herald-leader.com

The case of a Mount Sterling man accused of practicing medicine on homeless men in Lexington has been waived to the grand jury.

Dean Alan Willoughby appeared in District Court with lawyer Jim Lowry, left, for charges of practicing medicine without a license in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

Dean Alan Willoughby appeared in District Court with lawyer Jim Lowry, left, for charges of practicing medicine without a license in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, March 3, 2009.


Dean Alan Willoughby, 43, and his attorney Jim Lowry decided to waive the case instead of having a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Fayette District Court.

After his case was waived, Willoughby, flanked by his attorney and his family, quickly left the courtroom as local media shouted questions at them.

Willoughby held a jacket above his head to hide his face.

They all declined to comment.

Police detectives who were in court for Tuesday’s hearing declined to elaborate on the case afterward.

Willoughby is charged with three counts of practicing without a medical license. He has pleaded not guilty and has been released on $7,500 cash bond.

Willoughby was convicted of similar charges 15 years ago in South Carolina and spent time in prison. During that trial, he was accused of offering free medical services to dozens of people, many of them homeless.

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