Tag Archive for 'University of Kentucky'

Obama effigy case heads to grand jury

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on December 1, 2008
in Fayette District Court
. 19 Comments
By Steve Lannen

A grand jury will hear the case against two men accused of hanging an effigy of President-elect Barack Obama.

A Fayette District Court preliminary hearing was scheduled Monday morning for Joe Fischer, 22, and Hunter Bush, 21. However, their attorney, Fred Peters, said they waived their rights to the hearing, letting the case go to the grand jury to consider possible charges.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to give Peters access to the entire University of Kentucky Police investigative report, he said.

In late October, Fischer and Bush were arrested after an effigy of the then-Democratic presidential nominee was found hanging from a tree over a walkway on the University of Kentucky campus. The two men were charged with disorderly conduct and burglary for allegedly taking items from a fraternity house to make the effigy.

Fischer and Bush gave statements to campus police admitting guilt, court records stated.

Campus leaders and the governor condemned the act, and a campus vigil was held.

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Poll: Hate crime charges for Obama effigy?

Published
by
Steve Lannen
on October 31, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Read news coverage about this incident.
Two men accused of hanging an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the University of Kentucky campus pleaded not guilty Friday in Fayette District Court. Their attorney said afterward that the incident has been “blown out of proportion.”

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UK student’s injuries critical, possibly caused in a fight

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on October 1, 2008
in Lexington police
. 0 Comments

By Shawntaye Hopkins
shopkins@herald-leader.com

A University of Kentucky student injured early Saturday near campus, possibly during a fight, was listed in critical condition at UK Hospital Tuesday.

Police received a call from one of the parents of Blair Smith, 19, on Monday saying the young man had been intentionally struck with a bottle outside 328 Aylesford Place early Saturday.

Lexington police responded to reports of an altercation about 2:45 a.m. Saturday in the street near 328 Aylesford. The crowd in the street dispersed before officers could take any reports, Officer Ann Gutierrez, a Lexington police spokeswoman, said.

But police later received a call about an injured man less than a mile from the location of the original call on Aylesford, on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue. That’s where police found Smith, who was transported to UK Hospital. It’s unclear how Smith got from Aylesford to Euclid, Gutierrez said.

The person who called police about 3:30 a.m. to Euclid Avenue was not a witness to the altercation, Gutierrez said. And, after talking to Smith, police could not determine what happened.

A first-degree assault report was filed when one of Smith’s parents called police Monday after the parent had talked to some of Smith’s friends about what happened, Gutierrez said.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact Lexington police at (859) 258-3700.

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UK student in critical condition

Published
by
Steve Lannen
on September 30, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

By Shawntaye Hopkins

shopkins@herald-leader.com

A University of Kentucky student injured early Saturday near campus, possibly during a fight, was listed in critical condition at UK Hospital Tuesday.

Police received a call from one of the parents of Blair Smith, 19, on Monday saying the young man was intentionally struck with a bottle outside 328 Aylesford Place Saturday.

Lexington police responded to reports of an altercation about 2:45 a.m. Saturday in the street near 328 Aylesford. The crowd in the street dispersed before officers could take any reports, Officer Ann Gutierrez, a Lexington police spokeswoman, said.

But police later received a call about an injured man less than a mile from the location of the original call on Aylesford, on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue. That’s where police found Smith, who was transported to UK Hospital. It’s unclear how Smith got from Aylesford to Euclid, Gutierrez said.

The person who called police about 3:30 a.m. to Euclid Avenue was not a witness to the altercation, Gutierrez said. And, after talking to Smith, police could not determine what happened.

A first-degree assault reported was filed when one of Smith’s parents called police on Monday after the parent talked to some of Smith’s friends about what happened, Gutierrez said.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact Lexington police at (859) 258-3700.

Reach Shawntaye Hopkins (859) 231-1386 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1386.

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UK’s Ashton Cobb charged with stalking, absent from game

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 29, 2008
in Lexington police
. 22 Comments

Herald-Leader staff report

University of Kentucky football player Ashton Cobb was arrested Friday on a warrant after his ex-girlfriend said he sent her several threatening text and voicemail messages, according to court records.

Strong safety Cobb, 21,was not in the stadium for UK’s game against Western Kentucky Saturday evening. UK coach Rich Brooks said that Cobb was suspended from the university; Brooks would not comment further.

He is charged with second-degree stalking, third-degree terroristic threatening, and harassing communications.

Cobb’s ex-girlfriend said he called her about 19 times and sent about 15 text messages on Thursday, court records say. In one voicemail message he used profane language, saying he would kill and rape her.

He then sent a text message that read, “Why so serious?” referencing the Joker from the newest Batman movie, court records say.

Cobb, who posted bond and was released from the Fayette County jail, is scheduled to appear in Fayette District Court Monday for an arraignment.

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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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UK photographers released from jail

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 3, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 13 Comments

(Also see: Ky. photographers arrested at GOP convention)

By Jim Warren
jwarren@herald-leader.com

Minneapolis police Wednesday morning released three photographers from Kentucky who were arrested during a disturbance at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night, but their legal status remains unclear.

Carla Winn, whose husband, Jim Winn, the photo adviser for the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper, was among those arrested, said that no charges have been filed against the three. She said by cell phone from Minneapolis that police told her husband to check back with them on Monday about his case.

Another of those arrested, Ed Matthews, a senior at the University of Kentucky, said most their camera equipment and personal property were confiscated when they were arrested and remain in police custody. Matthews, a student photographer for the Kentucky Kernel, said police also confiscated his car keys, so he can’t leave Minneapolis until he gets the keys back or finds a locksmith to make a new ones.

“All I have right now is my ID and my debit card, and I only have them because I hid them in my shoe,” he said.

In addition to Jim Winn and Ed Matthews, UK photographer Britney McIntosh and Nathan Weber, a Western Kentucky University graduate and photographer, were arrested during the disturbance.

Weber was still in custody Wednesday morning, but probably will be released later today, Karla Winn said.

According to Matthews, the photographers were taking pictures of a group of demonstrators about 5 p.m. Monday, roughly a block from the convention site. Eventually, police herded the protestors into a parking lot and began making arrests, he said.

Matthews said he had press credentials, but officers ignored them.

Matthews said he and other photographers knew that some sort of disturbance was possible when they went to Minneapolis.

“But to see it happening right in front of your eyes was really something,” he said.

Although Matthews, Winn and McIntosh all work for the Kentucky Kernel they were not on assignment for the paper at the time of their arrests. Matthews said they went to the Republican convention because of personal interests in seeing and photographing the event.

According to Matthews, the American Civil Liberties Union is planning to hold a press conference on the arrests in Minneapolis later today.

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Ky. photographers arrested at GOP convention

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on September 2, 2008
in Police
. 15 Comments

(See UK photographers released from jail)

Steve Lannen
slannen@herald-leader.com

UPDATED: Three photographers with connections to the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper were arrested Monday night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

James Winn, the photo adviser for the Kentucky Kernel, and Ed Matthews, a student photographer at the paper, were arrested Monday night and booked into the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center in Minnesota on charges of felony rioting, according to staff at the jail. Britney McIntosh, also a Kernel student photographer, was charged with rioting.

Police use pepper spray to break up a group of protesters during a rally at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Police use pepper spray to break up a group of protesters during a rally at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 

 

A Western Kentucky University graduate and photographer, Nathan Weber, was arrested on a charge of gross misdemeanor rioting. 

As of Tuesday night, none had been formally charged. That could come Wednesday, a jail staffer said, adding that several hundred people faced similar charges. A total of 284 people were arrested, according to several news reports.

The arrests came Monday after a planned march in downtown St. Paul. “Breakaway anarchists” who left the parade route caused havoc in parts of the city, leaving slashed tires, broken windows and glass bottles heaved at police, according to TwinCities.com and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Police used pepper spray, tear gas and Tasers to subdue some crowds.

Jonathan D. Woods, a Western Kentucky graduate and photographer for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette covering the convention, saw the arrests take place.

About 5 p.m. Monday, police ordered about 300 protesters to disperse from an area near Seventh and Jackson streets in downtown St. Paul. After multiple warnings they used pepper spray, rubber bullets and then tear gas to break up the protesters. Between 60 and 100 people broke off from the group and ran through the streets, blocking intersections, Woods said. Some threw sandbags and newspaper racks into the streets.

Eventually police cornered the protesters in a parking lot, ordered them to the ground and placed zip-tie restraints on them, including the photographers from Kentucky.

“These photographers were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Woods said. “They were acting responsibly as photojournalists and capturing some good moments, and everything went south pretty fast.”

Brad Luttrell. the Kernel’s editor in chief, said that the photographers arrested were not covering the convention for the Kernel and had gone with the understanding that their photos would not be published in the paper. That decision was made because similar coverage was not planned for last week’s Democratic National Convention, Luttrell said.

He did agree to let them write about their experiences and publish their photos in a blog about photojournalism, linked to the Kernel’s Web site.

“From what I understand, they went out there with every intention to be photojournalists and do good documentary work and in no way did they have any intention to do any protesting or participate in any rioting,” Luttrell said. “I don’t know how many other journalists were arrested. I don’t know how they (police) decided who was who or if they just arrested everybody and decided to sort it out later.”

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