CARLISLE — The lawyer representing a suspended Central Kentucky principal said his client felt threatened during an altercation with a student.
Joe Orazen
Nicholas County High School principal Joseph F. Orazen appeared in court for an arraignment Wednesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault.
Orazen was suspended after an altercation last month with student Dusty Green, 15.
WLEX-TV (Channel 18) later released surveillance footage, saying it arrived at the station in an unmarked package. The video shows an outdoor confrontation between a male student and a man, whom WLEX reporters identified as Orazen and Dusty Green. The footage showed the man wrapping his arms around the student and slamming him to the ground.
“Believe me, there’s a whole lot more to this than a 10-second video,” defense attorney David Franklin of Lexington said.
He declined to elaborate on the threats made against Orazen during the altercation.
He said Green refused to leave school property when he returned after school to pick up a confiscated cell phone.
“He’s devastated,” Franklin said of Orazen. “It’s a bad situation he tried to avoid at all costs and couldn’t do it.”
Judge Jay Delaney denied a defense request to reduce bond from $7,500 full cash to about $2,000, which Franklin said is typical for a fourth-degree assault charge, a misdemeanor.
Delaney set the bond at 10 percent of $7,500, citing the nature of the allegations and relationship to the victim. He ordered that Orazen not have any contact with the victim and no other offenses.
But the judge let the school district decide whether Orazen should be allowed on school property, where he has children.
“I just want him to be held accountable,” said Green’s mother, Michelle Green of Carlisle, who attended the arraignment with her son. Orazen is scheduled to return to court at 1 p.m. April 1.
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