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Judge orders hearing to determine if McCreary attorney will lose his driver’s license
Posted On 02 Mar 2011
A judge will hold a hearing March 10 to determine if a McCreary County Master Commissioner and Trial Commissioner should lose his license … over three and a half years after he was initially arrested for drunk driving following an automobile accident in Williamsburg.
Timothy D. Lavender, 59, of Whitley City, was finally in court on Feb. 23 following a long lull during which the case seemingly dropped off the judicial radar. Special Judge Ralph E. McClanahan II presided over the pretrial conference in Lavender’s case, held in Whitley District Court last Wednesday. He ordered a special hearing be held March 10 at 1:00 p.m. to determine if Lavender’s license to drive will be suspended prior to trial.
Under Kentucky law, anyone who is suspected of driving under the influence must submit to a take a Breathalyzer test, blood or urine test, at the request of the arresting officer, or face increased penalties, automatic license suspension and difficulties in being granted a hardship license.
Lavender was initially arrested on June 8, 2007 and charged with first-offense DUI and possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle.
Lavender was in a 2001 Ford F-150 truck on June 8, 2007 when a vehicle accident occurred on KY 92W that was allegedly Lavender’s fault. Whitley County Third District Constable Jim Thornton investigated the case.
Thornton said he was working another accident on the other side of the mountain that Lavender passed by before getting into a three-vehicle wreck of his own on Ky. 92 about three miles west of Williamsburg.
Lavender allegedly left skid marks where he went across the double yellow line, and sideswiped one vehicle before hitting another nearly head on, Thornton said.
Police recovered five fifths of liquor in Lavender’s vehicle, including an open bottle that was stuck between the driver’s seat and the center console, Thornton said.
During his last scheduled court appearance, Lavender’s attorney, Ron Reynolds, and Special Prosecutor Phil Chaney told former special judge Roger Elliott that an agreed order had been reached in the case. An agreed order is typically a compromise between prosecutors and defendants, used many times as a tool to settle cases without an actual guilty plea, but it can be used for other aspects of a case. Often, if the terms of an agreed order are followed, then charges could be dismissed in exchange.
The order never actually appeared in the court file until Feb. 16 of last month when it was finally entered. It was not signed by Elliott.
The order would have essentially dismissed the DUI charge against Lavender due to an "absence of proof" that a prosecutor could prove beyond a reasonable doubt he was guilty.
Chaney is the former County Attorney in McCreary County.
On Feb. 23, Attorney General Jack Conway assigned a new special prosecutor to the case. It will be someone from the office of the Wayne County Attorney.
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Way to go!! Whitley County is even more corrupt than this. As you can see they had to appoint a special judge and a special prosecutor. One of Whitley County’s District Judge’s is Prewitt, if your a drug addict, convicted felon, then she’ll find you not guilty. But, disagree with her in any form or fashion and she not only wants to put you in jail, she’ll leave you there. Where are the individuals who monitor the actions of Judge’s? Are they asleep? On vacation? People need to take to their computers and send complaints to your legislators and get these corrupt Judge’s off the bench!!!!!!!!
He will walk. These pigs always walk. I am proud that Whitley County helped make Kentucky the 6th most corrupt state in the Union (according to Newsweek anyway). Way to go guys!
More INJUSTUS will come of this
The Dalton Brewer case is being drug along by a Special Judge Ron Johnson, originally from Harlan County! These Special Judges are supposed to come in and help expediate the court proceedings but they don’t care what happens as long as they are home by noon and get to count a full day towards their retirement. Another waste of our tax dollars fattening judges retirements. Call Chief Justice Minton and let him know about one of his special judges dragging his feet on a simple drug trafficking case for over 3 years. Ridiculous!!!
What about Dalton C. Brewer? and his stripper girlfriend Mary Rachel Poole??? They were arrested in July 07 and indicted Nov 07, as of today they have still not stood trial for their crimes. But others charged with a lot lesser offenses on the same date have went to trial and now serving prison terms. Why won’t the Whitley County Attorney do anything about these drug dealers? Maybe because Jane Butcher is defending them and has some kind of hold on these people? Where is justice in Whitley county? It never existed in the first place, unless you have money and know someone you are going to go to prison. The chosen people in Whitley county are so corrupt it’s not even close to being funny much less serious. Come one Allen Trimble do something about this.