The chief justice of the Kentucky state Supreme Court told lawmakers Thursday that the rapid switch to remote hearings at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was beneficial in keeping the courts moving.
A class of former inmates in Kentucky who were either acquitted or had charges dropped argue counties cannot stick them with the bill for expenses related to their incarcerations.
Attorneys argue before the Kentucky Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case over pretrial detainees being charged for the costs of confinement. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (CN) A Kentucky county violated state law and the bedrock principle of innocent until proven guilty when it charged a detainee for confinement costs even after the case against him was dropped, the former inmate argued Wednesday before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
David Jones was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Oct. 26, 2013, and although he spent the next 14 months in jail, all of the charges against him were dismissed and he was released from custody on April 2, 2015.
Credit WFPL via Thinkstock
The Kentucky Supreme Court will decide whether local jails are allowed to bill people for incarceration costs, even if they are later cleared of wrongdoing.
The High Court heard arguments Wednesday over a case involving a Winchester man arrested in 2014 on child pornography charges that were eventually dropped because police found no evidence.
After his arrest, David Jones couldn’t afford to pay a $15,000 bond and spent 14 months in the Clark County Jail, racking up more than $4,000 in jail fees while prosecutors pursued the case.
Jones filed a lawsuit against the county over the tab. During a hearing on Wednesday, Jones’ attorney Gregory Belzley argued that automatically charging inmates for jail costs goes against the presumption of innocence.
Hopkinsville, KY, USA / WHOP 1230 AM | News Radio
Apr 1, 2021 10:35 AM
COVID-19 protocols have postponed trial for three men charged with robbery and drug-related charges and their attorneys have some additional time to negotiate with the Commonwealth toward a possible resolution.
A female victim called Hopkinsville Police last March and told officers she had been held against her will in a home on Moores Drive for approximately two hours and robbed by three men.
Thirty-four-year-old Darius Johnson of Oak Grove, 24-year old Justice Wofford and 26-year old Spencer Clark were allegedly armed with guns and threatened to hurt the victim. One of the men allegedly put a knife to the victim’s stomach and forced her into a back bed room, where he reportedly made her electronically transfer money to his account.