Court Proceedings

Appeals court agrees with 17-year sentence (02/10/12)
Tennessee's appeals court says a local judge made no mistake in sentencing a Bedford County man to 17 years in prison for selling crack. Larry Thomas Johnson had appealed his guilty-pleaded convictions for the sale of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine and possession with the intent to sell...

Pyrdom drug case remains on hold (02/08/12)
It's not clear when a Moore County commissioner accused of selling drugs near a Bedford County school will have his case heard. William Karl Pyrdom Sr., 44, had been scheduled to make a fifth appearance in General Sessions Court on Jan. 31 for charges of sale of a schedule II drug...

City to consider raising court costs (02/03/12)
Costs for those who appear in city court may be going up by $15. Shelbyville's city council will consider an ordinance next Thursday to increase the amount of court costs, when paid as cash, to $105 instead of the $90 currently paid. The proposed hike is to cover the required amount to be sent directly to the state as litigation tax...

Court dates set for crime spree suspects (01/27/12)
Three men accused of a nearly year-long crime spree in Bedford County and other communities made their first court appearances on Wednesday. l Joey William Ostrander, 19, of Bragg Circle, Tullahoma, is charged with two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, five counts of theft of property under $10,000 and five counts of attempted aggravated burglary. He is being held under $252,000 bond at the Bedford County jail. He will make his next appearance in court on March 15...

View from the bench: crowded courtroom (01/26/12)
Bedford County's largest courtroom was once again filled to capacity Wednesday as a 108-page docket was before General Sessions Judge Charles Rich. Shelbyville Fire Marshal Brian Nicholson determined that the chambers have an occupancy load of 218, and court officers ordered those without business before the judge to wait outside. Yet, after this photo was taken, more defendants entered and took every available seat, also lining the walls. It took Rich over an hour to read the docket. Nicholson said last month that "dangerous overcrowding" had taken place in a small downstairs courtroom, prompting an evaluation of how many people can safely occupy court chambers. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)

Hansen support suit set for March (01/24/12)
March trial dates have been set for a former Shelbyville woman who sent her adopted Russian son back to Moscow alone on a plane with a note stating she didn't want him anymore. Torry Hansen is facing a lawsuit for child support that could require her to publicly answer questions about her actions. A trial is set to begin March 27 in Bedford County Circuit Court, with a hearing set in the case on Feb. 1...

Soring sentence includes order to write article for T-G (01/24/12)
Writing a newspaper article about his crimes is part of the punishment given to one of four people who pleaded guilty last year to soring horses. Paul Blackburn, 36, of Shelbyville received a year of probation and a $1,000 fine for conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act and substantive violations of the act....

Judgment against Americare overturned (01/20/12)
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has overturned a $5 million judgment against the parent company of a local assisted living facility in a wrongful death suit. In April 2010, a Bedford County jury returned a verdict of more than $5.4 million against Americare Systems Inc, and Shelbyville Residential LLC, which does business as Celebration Way, and two nurses -- Dottie Hunt and Mary Ann Steelman...

Hearing date for Boisseau case reset (01/20/12)
A preliminary hearing has been reset for March 15 for a man accused of attempted murder and arson last summer. Roger Eugene Boisseau, 37, will appear on that date before General Sessions Judge Charles Rich, where he will decide if there is enough evidence to send the case to the Bedford County grand jury...

Gambling cases will be heard in February (01/18/12)
Yet another continuance has been granted in an ongoing case against seven local merchants who face gambling-related charges stemming from the seizure of alleged gaming machines last year. Naim Abulaban, 21, of Murfreesboro, Dipakbhai Bhagat, 50, Sejal Chaudhari, 26, Brad Jones, 36, Dharmendra Patel, 40, Rameshbhain Patel, 48, and Narendra Patel, 52, all of Shelbyville, were in General Sessions Court Tuesday, but had their cases continued again until Feb. 14...

Spring dates set for Freeman trial (01/18/12)
Trial dates have been set for a man accused of trying to run down two Bedford County deputies last spring. Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler set April 30 and May 1 as the dates when Jerry Stanton Freeman, 45, will stand trial. Freeman is charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder of an officer, two counts of possession of a schedule VI drug, possession of a schedule II drug, resisting arrest and evading arrest...

Supreme Court refuses Bushnell (01/15/12)
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case filed by a local wrecker operator, who had unsuccessfully sued the city and county. In a one-sentence statement, the highest court in the nation denied a writ of certiorari filed by Robert L. Bushnell...

Hord case set; sheriff files denial to claims (01/12/12)
While one lawsuit against the sheriff and county has been settled, a trial date has been set for next year in the litigation filed by the department's former child abuse investigator. Meanwhile, the county filed documents Wednesday denying many of the allegations made against the sheriff...

Lott's appeal denied by court (01/12/12)
A woman serving an 18-year sentence for theft and credit card fraud has lost her appeal. Sheila Marie Lott had claimed she had received ineffective assistance of counsel and that her plea was not voluntarily made when she made an open plea in 2008 to a variety of charges...

Sentencing delayed in horse soring case (01/12/12)
Sentencing has been delayed until the end of next month for two people who have admitted their guilt in a federal horse soring case. Jeffery Bradford, 33, of Lewisburg, and Christen Altman, 25, of Shelbyville will now be sentenced on Feb. 27 instead of the original date of Feb. 13, according to an order by U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr...

Deputies to be paid OT (01/11/12)
Bedford County Board of Commissioners, after a closed attorney-client meeting, voted Tuesday night to settle overtime lawsuits brought against the county by sheriff's department employees, and to pay back wages owed to sheriff's department dispatchers...

Graffiti writer gets probation (01/06/12)
A Unionville man accused of writing threatening graffiti at the Tyson Foods plant in December 2010 received four years probation as part of a plea deal. Zachary Wilson, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of filing a false report in connection with an incident that was followed by bomb threats at the chicken processing plant and national media attention...

Drug fight tops DAs' concerns (12/28/11)
Tennessee's district attorneys say that synthetic and prescription drug abuse will be the biggest challenges they face going into the new year. District Attorney General Charles Crawford and 30 others recently met for the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference to identify what they termed "serious areas of concern" which must be addressed at the state level in 2012...

Hearing scheduled in suit vs. sheriff (12/23/11)
A federal judge has ordered a hearing to see if a preliminary injunction will be issued to halt alleged retaliation against sheriff's department employees who may wish to join a lawsuit over unpaid overtime. U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice, Jr. has set Jan. 5 in Chattanooga for a full evidentiary hearing over claims made by four detectives who filed suit against Sheriff Randall Boyce and Bedford County...

State won't release Freeman to deputies (12/20/11)
A man accused of trying to run down two deputies had another court date set after state correction officials refused to release him into the custody of the county. Jerry Stanton Freeman, 45, of Warren Hollow Road, will now appear before Circuit Court Judge Robert Crigler on Jan. 13 when he will either settle his case of have a trial date set...

Defendants' cases held until January (12/20/11)
A dozen defendants will have to wait until next month to learn if they were indicted by the Bedford County grand jury. Court officials stated that most of the defendants had only had their preliminary hearings before General Sessions Judge Charles Rich late last week and there was no time to properly draw up the indictments in time for Monday's meeting of the grand jury...

Judge to hear 2 suits vs.county (12/16/11)
A federal magistrate has determined that two suits filed against the sheriff and county are related and will not need to be assigned to a different judge. U.S. Magistrate William B. Mitchell Carter issued an order this week stating that litigation filed in August by four detectives and the lawsuit by the county's former child abuse investigator, Rebecca Hord, "is related" and that there is no need for reassignment since both cases are currently assigned to the same district judge, Harry S. ...

Sex offender's appeal denied by court (12/15/11)
A state court has rejected an appeal from a registered sex offender who violated the registry by not reporting his current address. Timothy Bryant Burton claimed that Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell erred by allowing prosecutors to introduce specific evidence of his prior convictions in violation of due process and the rules of evidence. Russell found Burton guilty of violation of the sex offender registry and sentenced him to four years in prison...

Court denies Parrish reduced prison time (12/13/11)
A Shelbyville man who fired shots at a home in 2009 after a drug deal went bad has been denied an appeal for a shorter prison term. Derrick Lamont Parrish, 34, formerly of Cedar River Road, is serving a 16 1/2-year sentence after entering a best-interest plea on a number of felony charges...

Second court date set in child death case (12/09/11)
A man charged in the death of his 4-month-old daughter following an accident on the Shelbyville bypass made his first court appearance Thursday. Edward Petatan-Rendon, 26, of Smith Street, charged with reckless homicide and six counts of reckless endangerment, has a second appearance before General Session Judge Charles Rich set for Jan. 12. He is free on $35,000 bond...

Trying times at courthouse (12/08/11)
Defendants had to appear before a judge "in shifts" Wednesday due to limits placed on courtroom occupancy by Shelbyville's fire marshal. A sign restricting the maximum occupant load to 60 people for the main courtroom area was posted at entrances to the first floor chambers at the county courthouse, after Assistant Fire Chief Brian Nicholson said that "dangerous overcrowding" had been reported by a citizen last week...

Hearing date set in Boisseau case (12/08/11)
A preliminary hearing date has been set for a man accused of attempted murder and arson this past summer. Roger Eugene Boisseau, 37, will appear on Jan. 19 before General Sessions Judge Charles Rich, where the judge will decide if there is enough evidence to send the case to the Bedford County grand jury...

Court overturns pot conviction (12/07/11)
A criminal appeals court has overturned a conviction of a Bedford County man on a possession of marijuana charge, stating that "double jeopardy" bars two charges resulting out of a single offense. In July 2010, Marease Antonio Crawford was indicted by the county's grand jury for sale of a schedule VI drug (two counts), delivery of schedule VI (two counts), possession of schedule VI for resale, delivery of schedule VI and driving on a suspended license. ...

Kibble sentence to be determined (12/02/11)
A Shelbyville man will be sentenced in February after making a plea agreement to charges of running his ex-girlfriend off the road and attacking her with a tire iron. Lavario Devon Kibble, 31, of Barksdale Lane, agreed to a sentence of five years at 30 percent, but how he will serve it will be up to Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell, who will conduct a hearing on that matter on Feb. 2...

Monkeys' owner faces short jail term (12/01/11)
A Bedford County man who was discovered with a number of monkeys at his home earlier this year will spend four days in jail and has been forbidden to keep any more exotic animals. Ricky Smith of Frank Martin Road was given a sentence of 11 months, 29 days probation on two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, with four days to serve in jail, according to assistant district attorney Drew Wright. The sentences are to run concurrent to any community corrections violations Smith has...

Moore commissioner's drug case continued (12/01/11)
A Moore County commissioner who is accused of selling drugs near a school has had his case continued until next year. William Karl Pyrdom Sr., 44, had a continuance set for Jan. 31 after making his fourth appearance in General Sessions Court on Tuesday. He is charged with sale of a schedule II drug and is free on $10,000 bond...

Hansen trial to be open (11/22/11)
The public and news media will be allowed access to the trial and records involving the case of a woman who sent her adopted Russian child back to his home country last year, a judge ruled Monday. However, it seems unlikely that the trial itself will go on in January as planned since both sides did not appear to be ready to proceed...

Farrar drops suit vs. city over arrest (11/22/11)
A Shelbyville man has said he will be dropping his lawsuit against the city over an alleged wrongful arrest. James Edward "Blue" Farrar Jr. filed a motion in federal court Monday asking that his suit be dismissed without prejudice. Farrar had been suing the Shelbyville Police Department, Mayor Wallace Cartwright, Police Chief Austin Swing and officers Tory Moore and Jose Garza, claiming his rights were violated when officers arrested him in April 2009 for public intoxication...

Pre-trial hearings on adoption case will be open (11/21/11)
A Bedford County judge has ruled that pretrial hearings will be open to the public in the case of a woman who sent her adopted Russian child back to his home country. Torry Hansen was living in Shelbyville in April 2010 when she sent her then-7-year-old son on a plane to Moscow by himself with a note saying she didn't want to be his mother anymore because he had psychological problems...

Action urged on Farrar suit (11/18/11)
A federal judge has ordered that a suit over an alleged wrongful arrest in Shelbyville either be dismissed or move to trial next year as scheduled. U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr. issued an order Thursday that lifted a discovery stay on the suit filed by James Edward "Blue" Farrar Jr...

Market seized, closed (11/18/11)
Residents of Bell Buckle and the nearby area will have to find another place to gas up or get that morning cup of coffee after the state Department of Revenue's tax enforcement division seized 82 Market on Thursday, closing its doors to customers. A person at the Shelbyville state office refused to give any information on the seizure, but a property title search shows the market belonging to Sanklap, Inc. of Murfreesboro, a corporation formed in Bedford County in 2006, with Danny Brandon of Manchester as its registered agent. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)

Document describes soring methods inflicted by convicted SSH trainers (11/13/11)
Documents made public recently in a local horse soring case detailed the abusive methods used on the animals. Last week, Barney Davis, 38, and Jeffery Bradford, 33, both of Lewisburg, and Christen Altman, 25, of Shelbyville, pleaded guilty to charges involving a conspiracy to sore spotted saddle horses and falsify paperwork...

County seeks partial dismissal of bail bond suit (11/10/11)
A motion is before a federal judge to partially dismiss a lawsuit centered around the county's bail bonding system. Ricky Robertson has been suing Bedford County since last December, claiming that it operates a system of setting bail for those arrested and presented to a judicial commissioner "that is not based on the individualized assessment of that particular person's likelihood to flee."...

3 plead guilty in soring conspiracy (11/09/11)
Three people at the center of a conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Barney Davis, 38, and Jeffery Bradford, 33, both of Lewisburg, and Christen Altman, 25, of Shelbyville, appeared for a federal court hearing in Chattanooga and changed their pleas, admitting guilt...

Peebles cleared of sex charges (11/03/11)
Following a two-day trial, a Shelbyville horse trainer was found not guilty by a Bedford County jury of sexually related charges involving minors. J.W. "Dick" Peebles, 61, of Holt Avenue was arrested in January and charged with two counts of sexual battery, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means and solicitation of a minor...

Hansen hearing postponed as public access debated (10/28/11)
A dispute over whether or not the proceedings should be open to the public and the press has resulted in the postponment of a hearing on two motions in the case against the family that put an adopted son on a one-way flight to Russia, creating an international incident...

Lawsuit vs. county to stay active (10/25/11)
A federal judge has denied Bedford County's request for summary judgement in a wrongful death suit, suggesting that the credibility of the jail's nurse may be in question. Attorneys for the county had been asking for dismissal of the remaining claims involving county jail inmate Larry Dale Byford, 54, who died at Vanderbilt Medical Center in 2009 after suffering an apparent heart attack while incarcerated...

Poisoning death of hawk may mean prison term (10/20/11)
A Wartrace farmer faces a seven-month federal prison sentence and fines after pleading guilty to misusing a pesticide that led to the death of a protected bird. On Monday, Lawrence Parawan, 57, of Wartrace, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga, charged with the misuse of a pesticide known as carbofuran, as well as "the unlawful killing of a migratory bird" -- a Northern Harrier Hawk...

Plan may hike deputies' holiday pay (10/20/11)
Bedford County Sheriff's Department wants to reduce the number of officers who attend court sessions and use the savings to provide holiday pay for those officers, according to discussion Tuesday night at the meeting of Bedford County Board of Commissioners' law enforcement committee...

'True predator' faces long sentence (10/20/11)
A Shelbyville man called "a true sexual predator" received the toughest sentence the judge could hand down on Monday. Joseph Darryl Taylor, 55, will serve a 20-year sentence for rape, consecutive to any remaining time of a 15-year term he had been previously serving before being released on community corrections...

Father admits killing son (10/18/11)
A Normandy man will spend the next 27 years in prison for killing his infant son for disturbing his video game. Andrew Keith Johnston, 19, entered a best interest plea on Monday to charges of second degree murder for the death of his 1-month-old son William on Oct. 15 of last year...

Attempt to kill officers results in indictments (10/18/11)
A man accused of trying to run over two officers during an undercover drug buy was indicted on a number Monday of charges, including two counts of attempted first degree murder. Jerry Stanton Freeman, 45, of Warren Hollow Road, was indicted on two counts of attempted first degree murder of an officer, two counts of possession of a schedule VI drug, possession of a schedule II drug, resisting arrest and evading arrest...

Escape nets 6 more months (10/13/11)
An escapee from the Bedford County jail admitted guilt on Wednesday, earning extra jail time as a result. Billy Ellis Gooch, 39, will serve six months consecutive to any other sentences he may face in other cases, afterwalking away from a Bedford County Workhouse crew detail on Aug. 19...

Haynes trial now set for March (10/07/11)
New trial dates have been set for March against a Murfreesboro man charged with vehicular homicide in an accident that killed his wife last year. John David Haynes, 51, will stand trial March 5 and 6, according to an agreed order signed by the defense and prosecution. Haynes had been reindicted last month after Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell barred a variety of testimony from his original trial, which had been scheduled to begin Monday...

Freeman bound to grand jury (10/07/11)
A detective testified that a Moore County man came only inches from striking him with a truck following an undercover drug buy in April. Jerry Stanton Freeman, 45, of Warren Hollow Road, was bound over to the next session of the Bedford County grand jury, set for Oct. 17, on charges of two counts of attempted first degree murder of an officer, two counts of possession of a schedule VI drug, possession of a schedule II drug, resisting arrest and evading arrest...

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