Grand jury clears Whitley 911 Director in case of missing evidence

Above, Whitley 911 Director Chuck Davis, a former Detective for the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, was cleared this week by a grand jury of accusations that he mishandled evidence at his previous job.

A Whitley County Grand Jury has cleared Whitley County 911 Director Chuck Davis of a theft related accusation, which stemmed from Davis’ days as a Whitley County Sheriff’s Department Detective.

The grand jury issued no true bill or no indictment against Davis on a charge of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $500 but less than $10,000.

"The grand jury did not feel like there was sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges," said Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble. "It essentially involved how evidence was maintained."

Davis worked as a detective in the sheriff’s department during the administration of former Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge for several years until he was hired as Whitley County 911 Director in June 2010.

Sheriff’s Capt. Greg Pace presented evidence concerning the case to the grand jury last month, which continued the case for further investigation until this month.

Sheriff Colan Harrell said the case stemmed from three or four missing items that were discovered while officers were making an inventory of items from the prior administration.

Davis was the last officer to sign for the items, Harrell said.

"We contacted Allen Trimble and his advice was to give it to the grand jury," Harrell said. "In the arena of responsibility, this is the way that it should have been played out. It was given to the grand jury to clear it up so we could go forward."

Davis was one of 27 witnesses, who testified before the special called Whitley County Grand Jury that investigated Hodge and indicted him in November 2010 on charges of abuse of the public trust and tampering with physical evidence.

Among other things the grand jury, which indicted Hodge, was critical of evidence handling procedures used by the sheriff’s department during Hodge’s tenure.

Part of Davis’ duties as a detective in the sheriff’s department involved maintaining evidence in his own cases and some times cases investigated by other officers.

Hodge is currently serving 15.5 years in a federal prison for crimes committed while he was in office. The 21-count local indictment against Hodge is still pending in Whitley Circuit Court and no trial date or court dates are currently scheduled in that case.

While numerous individuals have been charged in connection with the federal investigation involving Hodge, the Davis case is only the second known case stemming from the Hodge investigation that a Whitley County Grand Jury has considered.