In a report from a Christian County Grand Jury, the grand jury moved to fine members of local law enforcement after they did not report to the grand jury last Friday to testify.
In a handwritten letter from the grand jury, it states that they are “extremely disappointed” by the actions of the Hopkinsville Police Department, as only one officer showed up to grand jury proceedings to present a case. The report then lists nine HPD officers, along with Police Chief Jason Newby, and four Christian County Sheriff’s Department deputies, and states they are in contempt of court for not following subpoenas they requested.
The letter states Chief Newby told the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office on November 2 that no officer would appear at grand jury without a subpoena. The office then sent paperwork to the officers, but in a joint statement from Chief Newby and Christian County Sheriff Tyler DeArmond, they say Circuit Court Judge Andrew Self confirmed that paperwork was not a valid subpoena and did not comply with the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Judge Self confirmed to WHOP that that subpoenas that were sent to HPD were not valid.
Chief Newby states that the department informed the Commonwealth via email on Friday that no officers would be appearing.
The Grand Jury voted and determined that each officer be fined, including $500 against Chief Newby, $100 for each HPD officer listed and $100 for each sheriff’s deputy listed. The grand jury letter further states that, “political and emotional motives have no place in the presenting of the cases to the grand jury”.
Newby and DeArmond’s statement goes on to say, “Since the officers did not receive a valid subpoena, there was no obligation for any of the officers listed to appear before the grand jury, therefore they have done nothing wrong and cannot be held in contempt or fined.”
On Tuesday, Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen released a statement affirming her stance to hold members of the police and sheriff’s department in contempt of court proceedings. Bolen says during her tenure as attorney she has never had to subpoena law enforcement to appear before the grand jury.
According to Bolen, on Thursday one her staff members received an email from Newby saying that officers in his department would not appear for grand jury the next day unless they are served subpoenas. Bolen says she did not receive any subpoena request from the sheriff’s department.
Bolen says law enforcement should be held accountable similarly to the ordinary citizen, and regardless of the reason law enforcement should have appeared for grand jury like they have done in the past.
You can view the statements in full below and view previous stories here.
Grand Jury Letter
Joint statement from HPD and CCSO:
Statement from Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen
Story written by Hannah Hageman and Dionte Berry