Whitley County Attorney accused of ‘unethical’ conduct in affidavit

Whitley County Attorney Don Moses, far left, accepts his oath of office along with his assistant, Larry Conley, from District Judge Fred White. Moses was appointed to fulfill the unexpired term for former County Attorney Paul Winchester.

Two Corbin lawyers are accusing Whitley County Attorney Don Moses of "unethical" and "improper" behavior, and claims that he should be forced to remove himself from a case because he has violated the "prosecutor’s code of conduct."

In a motion filed March 21, Corbin defense attorneys David O. Smith and Brandon West are asking a judge to remove Moses as prosecutor from the case involving their client, Wendell Ralph Canada. Canada was arrested last June for first-offense DUI, failure to or improper signal and careless driving, all misdemeanor offenses.

In an affidavit date Feb. 23 of this year, Canada’s father, also named Wendell Canada, claims Larry Patrick contacted him on Feb. 14 on Moses’ behalf and said that the County Attorney needed to speak with him.

"On February 15, 2012, when I got home, Mr. Patrick and Mr. Moses were at my house. They told me [my] son, Wendell Canada, didn’t need any more trouble and he sure didn’t need Brandon West as an attorney," the affidavit reads.
It goes on to say that Moses encouraged Canada to hire another Corbin attorney to represent his son.

"Mr. Moses, told me he wasn’t allowed to tell me to fire them but, if I was to get rid of them and hire another lawyer in Corbin, I can’t recall his name, all the charges would go away. If David and Brandon stayed in the case, my son would end up with jail time."

"When I informed Mr. Moses I could not afford to hire another attorney, he told me he would postpone the cases and give me time to hire someone else," Canada contends in the affidavit. "I took all of the aforesaid as threats."

Smith and West are asking for a hearing on the motion to be set for April 4 at 9:00 a.m. in Whitley District Court in Corbin. A jury trial in the case has been set for the same day in Williamsburg before District Judge Fred White.

Moses did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday.