Oak Ridge Today

Man convicted of possessing heroin for sale in school zone

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Charles Randolph Johnson

Charles Randolph Johnson

A man who came to Anderson County from the Detroit area has been convicted of possessing heroin and marijuana for sale in a school zone, and he faces 25 to 40 years in prison, authorities said Wednesday.

Charles Randolph Johnson was found guilty on Friday, September 18, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release. The jury deliberated for 1.5 hours before announcing their verdict after a trial that lasted 1.5 days.

Johnson has a separate November 10 trial for actually selling the heroin, Clark said in the press release. The DA said Johnson has been charged separately for allegedly selling heroin three times on Coconut Lane near Claxton Elementary School. He also has charges pending for allegedly coercing a witness, Clark said.

The DA said the potential 25- to 40-year sentence for the Friday convictions is based on Johnson’s prior felony record and because the jury found that the crime occurred within a school zone. But the specifics of the sentence will be determined by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge at the November 30 sentencing hearing, Clark said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman convicted of abuse charge

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Note: This story was updated at 11:05 a.m. April 17.

Oak Ridge Today/WYSH Radio

An Oak Ridge woman will spend the next 15 to 25 years in a state penitentiary after an Anderson County jury needed less than 20 minutes Tuesday to convict her of aggravated child neglect following a trial in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Melissa Lopez, 37, was charged with failing or refusing to seek emergency medical care for her then-10-month-old son, who had suffered what the Anderson County District Attorney’s Office described as “horrible,” second-degree chemical or thermal burns to his skin and injuries to his eyes in November 2008.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services began an investigation after someone called and told them about the infant’s injuries, and DCS workers compelled Lopez to take the boy to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for treatment of his skin burns, eyes, and management of his pain. [Read more…]

Assistant public defender dies in single-car crash in Ohio

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Glenn Arden Shinaberry

Glenn Arden Shinaberry

Anderson County Assistant Public Defender Glenn A. Shinaberry, 29, died in a single-vehicle crash in Dayton, Ohio, early Sunday morning.

Shinaberry, a Knoxville resident, had been an assistant public defender in Anderson County since 2012.

WHIO-TV in Dayton said Shinaberry was a passenger in a Ford Mustang that hit a pole on a curve in front of the University of Dayton Arena at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The driver, who was not immediately identified, was taken to a Dayton-area hospital in critical condition, the television station said. [Read more…]

Man pleads to robbery charges

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Knoxville man pleaded guilty Thursday in Anderson County Criminal Court to reduced charges in a 2012 armed robbery at a Clinton loan store.

Adrian Nathaniel Butler, 20, had been charged with aggravated robbery and theft in the Jan. 12, 2012, robbery at the Cash2You store on Clinch Avenue in South Clinton, and he pleaded guilty to the theft charge and to a reduced charge of robbery.

In exchange for his plea, he was sentenced to eight years behind bars. He has been given credit for the two years that he has been in custody. [Read more…]

Two plead guilty to money laundering…literally

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Information from WYSH Radio 

Two men pleaded guilty this week to charges that they literally laundered money stolen in a Knox County bank robbery.

Danny Ray Idles, 36, of Clinton and Christopher Coward, 31, of Powell, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Anderson County Criminal Court to four counts each of money laundering and were sentenced to serve four 12-year jail sentences to run concurrently. [Read more…]

Son convicted of drug charges inside courtroom, father arrested outside

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William Charles Braden

William Charles Braden

Betty Jo Braden

Betty Jo Braden

After his son was convicted inside a federal courthouse in Knoxville on drug charges last week, a Lake City man was arrested outside, charged with selling a controlled substance, authorities said.

The mother was also arrested on drug charges, but she was at home on Vowell Mountain Lane near Lake City when she was picked up, authorities said. [Read more…]

First legal challenge filed over ‘In God We Trust’ signs

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Steve McDonald at In God We Trust Ceremony

During a Tuesday ceremony, Steve McDonald, left, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, says the “In God We Trust” signs at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton honor the nation’s heritage and remind residents that “it is in God that we trust.” Also pictured are Kathy Moore, Tom Byrge, Anthony Allen, and Gil Bates.

Information from WYSH Radio

The first legal challenge to the signs bearing the inscription “In God We Trust” over the entrances to the Anderson County Courthouse came on Wednesday but not from any organization. Instead, it came from a man charged with attempted first-degree murder. Kenneth Darrin Fisher, 22, of Clinton is accused of the attempted first-degree murder of his wife and illegal possession of an assault rifle, and his case is due to go trial next spring.

Through attorney David Stuart, Fisher filed a motion in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday seeking to dismiss all charges against him, asserting that the signs violate his freedom of worship rights under the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions. The motion states that Fisher is a blood member of the Cherokee Nation and a follower of “a Red Road” faith. [Read more…]

ORPD offers Junior Police Academy for students; register by July 5

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Oak Ridge Junior Police Academy

Oak Ridge Junior Police Academy students at the Law Enforcement Innovation Center in 2012. (Submitted photo)

The 2nd Annual Junior Police Academy will take place from Aug. 5-9. This is the last week before Oak Ridge Schools start the new school year.

Cadets will be given presentations by several Oak Ridge Police Department officers on topics that include K9 and SWAT operations, traffic stops and more. Cadets will also visit the prestigious Law Enforcement Innovation Center, Anderson County Detention Facility, and Anderson County Criminal Court, and they will be given a presentation by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office’s Aviation unit, who will fly in on a helicopter.

The academy meets from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. Those who are eligible to attend are students entering high school this year or returning to high school, or those that graduated this May. Private school and home-schooled students are welcome as well. [Read more…]

Marlow man charged with vehicular homicide for two deaths after three-car crash

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Danny L. Bean

Danny L. Bean

A Marlow man has been charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of two women who died after a three-car collision on Oliver Springs Highway in November.

Danny L. Bean, 55, of Ford Road, has been charged with two counts each of vehicular homicide by intoxication and two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness. He has also been charged with reckless endangerment and failure to maintain a single lane.

Bean allegedly crossed the center line while driving southbound in a Toyota 4-Runner on Oliver Springs Highway on Nov. 1, causing a head-on collision with a Hyundia Elantra drive by Alberta Farrer, 56, of Clinton, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Farrer died Nov. 8, a week after the accident, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. [Read more…]

Clinton man convicted of child rape

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Clinton man was convicted by an Anderson County jury on Wednesday on one of the three counts of child rape against him.

Michael David Hernandez, 44, was taken into custody, where he will remain until his sentencing on June 10 in Anderson County Criminal Court. [Read more…]