Drug case against former district judge to go to trial Dec. 22

Former Whitley District Judge Jason Price, who is accused of trading legal services in exchange for pills, will stand trial on Dec. 22 if a plea agreement to resolve his case isn’t reach before then.

Special Judge Samuel Spalding scheduled the trial date during a four-minute hearing Friday afternoon in Whitley Circuit and made clear that he expects the case to be resolved by that date or on it.

"If we are here on Dec. 22, this case will be tried," Spalding advised attorneys for both sides. "I do not accept pleas the morning of the trial.

"If we bring the jury in they are going to hear a case unless it is just a blind plea as charged. If this case gets resolved I want to be notified in advance."

A Whitley County Grand Jury indicted Price, 38, on April 20 and charged him with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance in connection with a March 19 incident.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said the investigation into Price had been ongoing for about one year and that it came to a head when police were able to arrange a drug transaction between Price and a cooperating source in mid-March.

The drug deal took place in the parking lot at Taco Bell in Williamsburg when Price allegedly accepted 15 30-mg Oxycodone pills and $500 cash as payment for legal fees, Bird said.

After the exchange, authorities immediately arrested Price.

Bird said there is a big misconception about the drug trafficking statute, which says "buy, sell or give" controlled substances.
"Jason was not trafficking in the aspect of selling drugs. He was trafficking in the aspect of accepting drugs as payment of legal services rendered that is by definition trafficking," Bird said.

Price enrolled in an eight-month rehabilitation program at the Isaiah House treatment facility in Willisburg, Kentucky, on March 16, according to a court document.

The program also has a three-month continuum of care commitment, and as of June 15 Price had passed all drug and alcohol screens, according to a court document.

Price had initially been scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 28 but Spalding agreed to postpone the trial last month partially because Special Prosecutor Eddy Montgomery, who was appointed on Aug. 26, didn’t have access to the former prosecutor’s file yet. This issue has since been resolved, Spalding noted.

Montgomery, who is commonwealth’s attorney in Pulaski County, wasn’t present for Friday’s hearing because he was busy preparing for another case, but was represented by his assistant commonwealth’s attorney David Dalton.

The judge noted that another reason he postponed the trial last month was due to a motion defense attorney Stephanie McKeehan had filed to withdraw as council in the case.

During Friday’s hearing, McKeehan withdrew her motion to withdraw from the case, which means that she is still representing Price.

"We’ve already continued this case one time for reasons that were beyond anyone’s control. Barring a death or something of that nature, it won’t get continued again. We will get this case done one way or another on Dec. 22," Spalding added during the hearing.

The trial is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 22 and Spalding said he would hear any pre-trial motion in the case at 9 a.m. that day.

Price served as Whitley district judge from late 2008 when he won a special election against incumbent Fred White only to lose to White during a rematch in late 2010.