Archive for the 'Fayette Circuit Court' CategoryPage 2 of 2

Woman awarded $9.8 million in malpractice case

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on October 8, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 43 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

A $9.89 million civil verdict was returned Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by a Lexington hairdresser who became paraplegic after a routine heart surgery.

A Fayette Circuit Court jury assigned 31 percent of fault — or $3,057,894.49 — to the surgeon, Dr. Michael Sekela of Surgical Associates of Lexington. The verdicts against the other defendants, Fresenius Medical Care and Central Kentucky Anesthesia, are moot because they had already settled with the patient and did not participate in the trial, said Sekela’s attorney, Rich Schiller of Louisville.

A review of the Kentucky Trial Court Review indicates that Wednesday’s verdict could be the largest medical malpractice verdict to ever come out of Fayette County.

The plaintiff, Latricia Satterwhite, had surgery on her mitral valve in her heart on April 19, 2006. The surgery took less than an hour and was successful.

But, according to medical experts who testified on her behalf, the surgeon misplaced the cannula, or hose, for a machine that pumps blood during the surgery. The misplacement caused too much blood and oxygen to be pumped to her right hand and too little to her brain and thoracic spinal cord, the experts testified.

Satterwhite, who worked at the Great Clips on East High Street, can no longer walk. She also suffered mild to moderate brain damage, said her attorney, James Bolus of Louisville.

“No one wins here,” Bolus said. “The surgeon has to live with the fact this occurred. Unfortunately, he wanted to go trial.”

Schiller said Sekela disputes that the cannula was misplaced or that he caused her paralysis.

Schiller said that they are considering an appeal.

“Its always unhappy when you have a verdict like this,” Schiller said. “We are in shock and disbelief that it happened.”

Satterwhite was awarded $455,229.06 in past medical experiences and $4,426,408.72 for future medical bills. She was awarded $482,538 in lost wages and $4.5 million for pain and suffering.

The total verdict was $9,864,175.78.

Sekela was found at fault by a 10-2 vote of the jury. The anesthesiologist shared 23 percent of the fault, and the perfusionist, the person who operates the heart-lung machine. was responsible for 41 percent of fault, the jury found.

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Former aide to Isaac discharged by judge

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on October 3, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 0 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

A onetime senior aide to former Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac who pleaded guilty to official misconduct was conditionally discharged by a judge on Friday.

Becky Estep was given a form of unsupervised probation for two years. If she commits any other crimes she could face 180 days in jail, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrea Mattingly Williams said.

A criminal case is pending against Debbie Jones, who was an administrative assistant in Isaac’s administration.

Jones and Estep were indicted by a Fayette County grand jury in March on one count each of theft by unlawful taking over $300, a Class D felony.

According to court documents filed in March, Estep used money belonging to the Lexington Festival Committee to buy clothes, popcorn and lunches worth more than $300. Jones allegedly used money from the same source to pay for a trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and gift cards and lunches totaling more than $300.

The charge to which Estep pleaded guilty, official misconduct in the first degree, is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail or a fine of up to $500 or both.

Under Kentucky law, public servants are guilty of official misconduct in the first degree if they knowingly commit acts related to their office that constitute an unauthorized exercise of official function “with intent to obtain or confer a benefit, or to injure another person or deprive another person of a benefit.”

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Spindletop securities case brings new indictment

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on October 1, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 0 Comments

By Greg Kocher
gkocher1@herald-leader.com

A Fayette County grand jury indicted a Jessamine County woman Monday on charges that she illegally sold securities related to the 1901 Spindletop oil strike.

Jewell Robbins

Jewell Robbins

Jewell Robbins, 75, also known as Alvina Jewell Burgin, was indicted on four felony counts. The Nicholasville woman, already in jail on a contempt of court charge related to the selling of securities, was indicted in Fayette County because she maintained an office in Lexington.

The detailed indictment was a direct indictment of a coalition of state, local and federal law enforcement officials known as the Financial Crimes Task Force that meets monthly to discuss pending cases in his office.

“Financial crimes are historically very complicated,” Larson said. “This group is not intimidated by the complexity of financial crimes. This is what they like to do, and they do it.”

In this particular instance, Roberta Bottoms, a U.S. postal inspector, was listed as the witness who testified before the grand jury. The state Department of Financial Institutions, which regulates securities in the state, was also involved, but it cannot bring criminal charges, said Andrea Williams, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney who chairs the task force.

If the task force suspects there is criminal activity, it contacts a law enforcement agency, she said.

Robbins remains in the Franklin County jail, where she had been incarcerated since July 22. She was ordered to serve a 120-day sentence after a Franklin Circuit Court judge found her to be in contempt because she continued to sell securities. She is not scheduled to be released from jail until mid-November

The state Department of Financial Institutions says Robbins has sold securities or partial interests in litigation related to Spindletop since the mid-1980s.

There are thought to be hundreds or even thousands of people all over the country who invested money with Robbins. Spindletop was one of the richest oil deposits on earth and has yielded billions of dollars worth of crude oil since production began in 1901.

Ron Bowling, Robbins’ attorney, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. An arraignment date for Robbins has not been scheduled.

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Husband pleads guilty to killing wife

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 25, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 4 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

A man who was the subject of a manhunt in 2007 because of allegations he killed his wife and later confronted his brother at a Richmond newspaper pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter charges.

John William Todd Jr., 64, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting his wife, Charlene Lynn Todd, on March 8, 2007, at their 1813 Darien Drive home.

John William Todd Jr., 64, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting his wife, Charlene Lynn Todd, on March 8, 2007, at their 1813 Darien Drive home.

John William Todd Jr., 64, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting his wife, Charlene Lynn Todd, on March 8, 2007, at their 1813 Darien Drive home.

He accepted a plea deal for a 10-year sentence, with one caveat: his attorneys will argue to a judge that John Todd was a victim of domestic violence.

If a judge agrees, Todd could become eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of his sentence, two years.

Violent offenders normally must serve 85 percent of their sentence before they can get a parole hearing.

One of Todd’s attorneys, Jerry Wright, declined to elaborate on why Todd says the shooting was related to domestic violence.

Wright said he will file a motion outlining his arguments by Oct. 24.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Moore declined to comment on why Todd was offered a plea deal because the case is still pending.

The day of the shooting, Lexington police were called to the home about 12:45 p.m. for reports of a shooting. Police roped off the street at Traveller Road, and a SWAT team entered the home later that afternoon to find Lynn Todd dead with gunshot wounds. Family frantically called John Todd’s cellphone trying to persuade him to turn himself in.

At 11 a.m., John Todd went to his brother’s office at the Richmond Register.

John told his brother, Jim, that he was having marital problems and had shot his wife to death after a fight. John then pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and told Jim that he had come to kill him, the Register reported.

But John Todd changed his mind, and told Jim that he wanted him to tell John Todd’s children that he had come there to kill Jim but didn’t, according to the Register.

He later turned himself in at 10:40 p.m.

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Kentucky inmate charged with 1997 Lexington murder

Published
by
Steve Lannen
on September 18, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court and Police
. 0 Comments

By Shawntaye Hopkins

shopkins@herald-leader.com

A man serving time in the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville has been indicted on murder, rape, assault and other charges stemming from events that occurred when he was a juvenile.

Two years ago, Lexington police used DNA evidence to link Aarion Lamon Johnson, now 28, to death of Susanne Stoffels, who was found on her home on Ross Street in 1997.

He was also charged with abusing her corpse. He admitted to the killing Stoffels in June 2006 while in the penitentiary, court records say. He also admitted to abusing her corpse.

Johnson was also charged with assaulting and sodomizing another woman in May 1996, and raping a third woman in June 1996.

He was serving a 70-year sentence in the state penitentiary for previous burglary and sexual offenses when the arrest warrant for those charges was issued two years ago.

On Wednesday, a Fayette County grand jury indicted Johnson on those charges as well as four counts of first-degree burglary related to the incidents in the late-90s.

Johnson is expected to appear in court at 1 p.m. Sept. 26.

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Girlfriend gets one year in Lexington slaying

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 11, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 0 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com
 

A Letcher County woman pleaded guilty Friday to reckless homicide in the stabbing death of her boyfriend in Lexington.

Sharon Collins, 30, agreed to a one-year sentence in the September 2007 death of David B. Hogg, 36.

Sharon Collins, 30, agreed to a one-year sentence for the September 2007 death of David B. Hogg, 36. Collins has already spent about four or five months in jail.

Sharon Collins, 30, agreed to a one-year sentence for the September 2007 death of David B. Hogg, 36. Collins has already spent about four or five months in jail.

Collins already has spent about four or five months in jail. With good-time credit she’ll probably serve three or four more months, said her attorney, Russell Baldani. She was taken into custody Friday.

 

Collins initially was charged with murder. But after she testified before a Fayette County grand jury in November, the charge was reduced to second-degree manslaughter.

Baldani said Collins was prepared to argue self-defense if the case had gone to trial. But she accepted a plea deal because she did not want to risk going to prison for five to 10 years.

The stabbing occurred early Sept. 16, 2007. Collins says she was at the Rosebud bar in downtown Lexington while Hogg and an acquaintance broke into cars to steal radios, Baldani said.

Later, the couple got into a fight in their car. Hogg slammed on the brakes, and Collins hit her head on the windshield and got out of the car. Hogg tried to drag her back to the car, giving her road rash, and he was on top of her when she stabbed him with a pocket knife, hitting him in the aorta, Baldani said.

Collins dropped Hogg’s body off at Samaritan Hospital at 6:15 a.m. Hospital employees estimated he’d been dead for an hour, according to court documents.

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Former assistant police chief at UK, university settle suit

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 8, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 1 Comment

By Jim Warren
jwarren@herald-leader.com

A settlement has been reached in a two-year-old lawsuit between the University of Kentucky and the former assistant chief of UK’s campus police department.

A UK spokeswoman on Monday confirmed that the suit between UK and former assistant chief Stephanie Bastin has been settled, but she said details are being kept confidential.

Bastin sued UK in Fayette Circuit Court in July 2006, alleging that the university improperly forced her out of her job with the campus police.

Bastin claimed that UK Associate Vice President Ken Clevidence ordered her to ask another UK campus police officer to dismiss a citation against a senior university administrator. She said she refused because asking the officer to drop the citation would have violated state law.

Bastin was named interim chief of the Kentucky State University campus police department earlier this year.

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Ragland wants new trial after $63.3 million verdict

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 2, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 18 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

Shane Ragland wants a new civil trial in the 1994 shooting death of a University of Kentucky football player because he thinks the $63.3 million verdict against him is excessive.

In a motion filed in Fayette Circuit Court, Ragland’s attorney, David Broderick of Bowling Green, said the jury in the August wrongful death trial acted “under the influence of passion or prejudice or in disregard of the evidence.”

Ragland was sued by the family of Trent DiGiuro, who was slain on Woodland Avenue in July 1994 as he was celebrating his upcoming 21st birthday.

Neither Ragland nor his attorneys attended the trial.

Broderick could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Shane Ragland

Shane Ragland

DiGiuro’s father, Mike, had a one-word reaction to the news.

“Whatever,” he said.

DiGiuro noted that Ragland had offered to settle the case for $50 million, a largely symbolic offer because he has few assets to his name.

Ragland pleaded guilty last year to second-degree manslaughter.

He was convicted of murder in 2002, but the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

A DiGiuro family attorney, David Pratt of Lexington, said Ragland’s motion isn’t going anywhere because he didn’t show up for the civil trial.

“It doesn’t really make a lot of sense,” Pratt said. “If they don’t really intend to pay any of it to begin with, then what difference does it make?”

The motion does not state whether Ragland would appear at a second civil trial.

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Ron Berry, convicted sex offender, gets partial pardon

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on August 28, 2008
in Fayette Circuit Court
. 29 Comments

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

Gov. Steve Beshear has restored the right to vote and hold office to convicted child molester Ron Berry, the former head of the defunct Micro-City Government youth program.

The partial pardon, which was signed on Aug. 20 and filed Wednesday in Fayette Circuit Court, does not restore Berry’s right to own a gun or serve on a jury.

Berry, 64, was convicted of 12 counts of sodomy with 12- to 16-year-old boys in 2002. He completed a three-year prison sentence at Northpoint Training Center in 2005.

A Lexington lawyer who was instrumental in Berry’s downfall was flabbergasted by the news.

Ron Berry
Ray Larson

“I’m legitimately at a loss for words on this one,” said Gayle Slaughter, who represents several people who say they were sexually abused by Berry. “I guess it is good to know which side of the fence the governor is on in this battle against this scourge on society.”

Slaughter said she doesn’t mind allowing Berry the right to vote. “But I think allowing him to seek public office is a bit much,” she said.

In Kentucky, the governor must intervene for felons to have their civil rights restored.

A spokesman for Beshear said the governor, as a matter of policy, automatically approves the partial restoration of civil rights if applicants have served their sentence, paid restitution and have no outstanding warrants.

Having the right to vote automatically grants someone the right to run for office, spokesman Jay Blanton said.

Prosecutors can object to the partial pardon, and Beshear actually doubled the amount of time prosecutors have to review the cases, Blanton said. Prosecutors have objected in 56 instances, and in each case the governor refused to restore civil rights, Blanton said.

In Berry’s case, prosecutors did not object. He was prosecuted by Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Larson’s office.

Blanton said Berry’s application was forwarded to Larson in June.

Larson says he didn’t see it. If he had, he would have objected, he said.

“We object to people who kill people, and people who are sex offenders,” Larson said. “And I just obviously didn’t see it.”

He said it is too late for him to object now.

Larson did not have an explanation for why it did not reach his desk.

In March, Beshear, a Democrat, streamlined the process to make it easier for felons to have their rights restored. The move was praised by the League of Women Voters, the NAACP and some Republicans, including Secretary of State Trey Grayson, Blanton said.

The previous governor, Ernie Fletcher, did not automatically restore rights and required written essays.

Berry did not return a phone message seeking comment. Phone calls to a handful of his supporters were not returned.

Micro-City Government, which was founded by Berry in 1969, provided summer jobs and educational programs for disadvantaged youths, hosted dances and parties for the teens, and offered free lunches in impoverished neighborhoods. Berry led Micro-City until 1997, when allegations against Berry became public.

Micro-City was dissolved in 1998.

More than 160 people have sued the Urban County Government, claiming city officials ignored or concealed information that Berry was molesting under-age boys and girls for decades.

The lawsuits alleged that officials allowed the abuse to occur because Berry, once a prominent and powerful black leader, could deliver the black vote for them.

Slaughter said the partial pardon confirms what Berry’s critics have long said.

“Ron has friends in high places,” Slaughter said. “I guess Steve’s trying to get another vote.”

Replied Blanton, “I think that is a ridiculous assertion.”

“We apply the same standard for everyone,” he said. “It is irresponsible to make such a statement.”

Reach Brandon Ortiz at (859) 231-1443 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1443.

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