Alcohol intoxication verdict expected soon for Williamson

A verdict in the contentious trial of former Corbin Mayor Scott Williamson, who was arrested last May for alcohol intoxication, is likely to be handed down today.
Williamson made good on his vow to fight the public drunkenness charge as the issue went to a bench trial before Judge Cathy Prewitt in McCreary County District Court last Wednesday. On the witness stand, he claimed his arrest was the result of a grudge Corbin Police Officer Brandon White, who made the arrest, had against him.
“I knew what was happening because he made the statement that he would get me, and people heard that,” Williamson said under heated cross-examination by prosecutor Phil Chaney. “I absolutely believe it was a vendetta against me!”
Williamson was arrested in the early-morning hours of May 22 while walking toward downtown Corbin on Gordon Hill Pike. Police say they received a citizen phone complaint at the 911-dispatch center of someone staggering down the roadway and responded.
According to a police report, Williamson was covered in grass and had a scrape on his arm where he had apparently fallen while walking. The report, filed by White, also said Williamson was “very unsteady” on his feet, “had red, glassy eyes” and nearly fell over several times before being arrested.
During trial, White said he was finishing up the investigation of a criminal mischief complaint at a local pharmacy when he received the call.
On cross-examination, Williamsburg attorney Paul Croley, who represented Williamson, tried to show that White went out of his way to arrest his client and questioned the officer about his decision to leave the investigation to check out a more minor crime. He also pointed out that the location where Williamson was arrested was outside the city limits of Corbin.
But the crux of the defense attorney’s argument centered on a “speeding incident” over which White and Williamson apparently had a disagreement about four years ago. (See accompanying story).
White denied he had a vendetta against Williamson and said that he didn’t even know the identity of the person he received the intoxication complaint on until he got to the scene.
“When I first exited my police car, that’s when I knew,” White said. “His back was to me when I got out of the car. He turned around, and that’s when I recognized him.”
White claimed Williamson refused to submit to several intoxication tests … something the former mayor denied.
“He asked me to do the breath test three times. I didn’t refuse anything.”
During his testimony, Williamson said he had met some friends at a restaurant in downtown Corbin earlier in the evening and had been invited to a cookout at the home of Kentucky State Police Trooper Kelly Farris. He said he left the party at about 2:00 a.m. and decided to walk to a friend’s house, instead of asking for a ride, because he didn’t want to impose on anyone else at the party.
“I had no vehicle and really didn’t want to ask anybody to take me downtown,” Williamson said. “In all honesty, if there were any chance of driving impaired, I wouldn’t want to do that.”
Williamson said he slipped on the side of a ditch trying to avoid an oncoming car while walking the road, but didn’t know he had scraped his arm and leg until later.
“I wasn’t even aware of the scrapes until an officer had it put in the newspaper.”
During questioning by Croley, Williamson said he probably had “two or three” drinks while at the cookout.
At the end of a short, tension-filled cross-examination, Chaney accused Williamson of lying and expecting special treatment.
“Do you think you should be above the law?,” he asked. “If you are walking down the road under the influence, do you think you should be treated differently than everybody else?”
Williamson was never taken to the Whitley County Jail because he complained of chest pains while at the police station. He was transported by ambulance to BRMC for examination. A subpoena was issued to the hospital on May 26 for results of a blood alcohol test done as part of a routine blood exam when Williamson was admitted. The results, obtained by the News Journal, show Williamson was legally intoxicated when tested. He had a blood-alcohol level of .175 – more than twice the legal limit of .08. The results of that test were never admitted at trial. Prewitt disallowed them, ruling they were illegally obtained.
Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins denied requests to allow White to be interviewed following the trial. He did defend the officer’s actions, though, and said testimony at the trial speaks for itself.
“The Police department did nothing wrong. Brandon was just doing his job,” Mullins said. “This thing has gone to trial and I think we’ll let that process sort things out. I don’t want to get into a bunch of back and forth, he-said this, he-said that sort of stuff.”
Williamson was first elected mayor in 1994 and served for nearly 11 years until he resigned. He is now an executive director in the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. He said his position in state government would not be jeopardized by the arrest.
After the results were published in the News Journal, Prewitt upheld a motion by Croley to move the trial to McCreary County because of the media coverage. No jury was ever selected to hear Williamson’s case as he opted for a bench trial.
As of press time Tuesday, Prewitt had made no ruling.