Though indicted, Nighbert still likely to testify in lingering cases, prosecutor says

Whitley Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said he still anticipates having former Williamsburg Police Officer Brad Nighbert available as a witness in upcoming trials where Nighbert was an investigating officer despite Nighbert’s indictment Monday morning on various felony charges.
“In any prosecution in general, you would like all your witnesses to be sparkly clean with no problems. Hopefully, they would have been to seminary, but that is not the case,” said Trimble, who has recused himself as prosecutor in the Nighbert case.
“All witnesses have blemishes. Even police officers sometimes have blemishes, but it shouldn’t have anything to do with those cases.”
The indictment alleges that Kenneth Brad Nighbert, 29, of Williamsburg, was driving at an “excessive speed” and that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident on April 12.
The grand jury charged Nighbert with second-degree assault for “wantonly causing serious physical injury to Connie Jackson with a dangerous instrument, an automobile.”
If convicted of second-degree assault, Nighbert could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison.
The grand jury charged Nighbert in the alternative with first-degree wanton endangerment for allegedly operating a motor vehicle in a “wanton manner.”
The alternative indictment alleged that Nighbert operated the automobile at an “excessive speed and/or under the influence of a controlled substance so as to cause a collision which could have resulted in the death or serious physical injury of Connie Jackson.”

Other offenses
The grand jury also charged Nighbert with two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, two counts of first-degree possession of a controlled substance, and for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence with an aggravating circumstance.
The criminal mischief charges stem from more that $1,000 in damage to Jackson’s automobile, and to Nighbert’s police cruiser, which belonged to the City of Williamsburg.
The controlled substance charges alleged that Nighbert possessed both Oxycodone and cocaine, which are Schedule II controlled substances.
A toxicology test taken about three hours after the accident showed Nighbert had 0.001 milligrams of cocaine in his system, and 0.007 milligrams of Oxycodone.
The grand jury heard last week from Kentucky State Police Trooper Greg Hill, the investigating officer in the case, in addition to Jackson, and Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison before issuing the indictment.
Nighbert had to be extricated from his police cruiser following the crash, and was flown to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he underwent a four-hour surgery to fix his leg.
Nighbert was on medical leave from the police department for several months.
Sometime in late August he was suspended without pay prior to his September resignation that happened minutes before an administrative hearing that could have resulted in his dismissal from the department.

In the alternative
Special Prosecutor Thomas Smith said indictments sometimes include charges in the “alternative” in order to give juries as many options as possible.
“Sometimes defendants are indicted alternatively, which means juries can find them guilty of count ‘a’ or they can find them guilty of count ‘b.’ They can’t find on both, but they can find on either,” Smith said.
Smith said that when a jury hears about different elements of a crime, they might decide that the evidence they heard from the witness stand doesn’t meet the criteria concerning one charge. However, jurors could still find that the evidence meets the criteria of a different offense that isn’t a lesser-included offense of the first charge.
In Nighbert’s case, first-degree wanton endangerment isn’t a lesser-included offense of a second-degree assault charge. Fourth-degree assault could be a lesser-included offense of second-degree assault though.
Second-degree assault is a class ‘C” felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while fourth-degree assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. First-degree wanton endangerment is a class ‘D’ felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
In order for a jury to convict someone of second-degree assault, they have to find that the victim suffered serious physical injury while fourth-degree assault covers less serious physical injuries.

Criminal summons issued
Judge Paul Braden set a $25,000 fully secured bond for Nighbert Monday, which means Nighbert will have to put up $25,000 cash, or $50,000 worth of property in order to remain out of jail pending the outcome of his trial.
Braden, who was the presiding judge Monday when the indictments were returned, issued a “criminal summons” that will require Nighbert to appear in court for his yet unscheduled arraignment, rather than an arrest warrant.
A criminal summons is issued to inform somebody that an indictment has been returned against them in a case, and often orders them to appear in court on a particular date, but it doesn’t result in their immediate arrest like an arrest warrant would.
In the case of an arrest warrant, police would arrest an individual, who is indicted or accused of a crime, and lodge them in jail until they post bond in order to be released from custody.
The issuance of a criminal summons rather than an arrest warrant is fairly common in cases where someone has been indicted without having been arrested first in a case, and isn’t considered a flight risk.

No court date yet
Whitley Circuit Court officials said Monday afternoon that no court date has been scheduled yet for Nighbert’s arraignment.
Judge Jerry Winchester will preside over Nighbert’s case. It is likely that Nighbert would be arraigned during Winchester’s next regularly scheduled motion hour on Feb. 5, if he isn’t arraigned before then.
Smith said that it’s too early to tell when the case will go to trial.

No comment
Williamsburg attorney Jane Butcher represents Nighbert. An official at Butcher’s office said Monday afternoon that Butcher would have “no comment” on the matter.
Harrison also declined to comment on the case Monday evening.
Williamsburg Police Chief Denny Shelley is on vacation this week, and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Nighbert is the son of Kentucky Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert, who was Williamsburg Mayor when Brad Nighbert was hired as a police officer.