Oak Ridge Today

With holiday approaching, Anderson DA reminds residents not to drink and drive

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The Labor Day holiday is this weekend, and Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark is reminding people to not drive under the influence.

Citing statistics that indicate that nearly one out of every three traffic deaths in America occur in impaired-driving crashes, Clark in a press release said all of the county’s municipal police departments and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office are taking part in a high-visibility enforcement campaign aimed at reducing impaired driving fatalities and serious injury crashes. If you are driving under the influence, the minimum penalty in Tennessee includes 48 hours behind bars, a one-year suspension of your driver’s license and a $350 fine—plus the other severe financial consequences such as rising insurance rates, attorney fees and court costs, lost time at work, as well as potential job loss and the personal and professional embarrassment, Clark 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…]

Crime down 25 percent in Anderson County in two years, sheriff says

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The total number of crimes reported to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department has dropped by about 25 percent in the past two years, Sheriff Paul White said.

He said overall crimes decreased by an even larger percentage, roughly 35 percent, from 2007 to 2012. Crimes against property, such as burglaries and thefts, fell about 20 percent over two years and close to 30 percent since 2007.

“This drop in overall crime can be directly attributed to proactive law enforcement and increased patrols of the rural areas of the county,” White said in a Monday press release. [Read more…]

Anderson man arrested for death of woman who fell from van

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James Richard Wylie

James Richard Wylie

An Anderson County man indicted for homicide last week in the death of a Lake City woman who allegedly fell from his vehicle last year was arrested today, authorities said.

An investigation showed that Martha Rose McGhee, 33, of Lake City, fell out of a vehicle driven by James Wylie, 54, of Clinton, on Cobb Hollow Road just outside Lake City on Sept. 12 and hit her head, causing her death, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a Tuesday press release. [Read more…]

Proactive policing, officer visibility, Neighborhood Watch help reduce crime, chief says

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

The number of reported crimes has dropped significantly in each of the past two years in Oak Ridge, and that’s good news for the community, economic development, and police officer morale, officials said Wednesday.

Reported crimes were down 9 percent in Oak Ridge in 2011, and 11.5 percent in 2012, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation statistics.

“That indicates to me that isn’t a blip,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. “It’s not a one-year blip.” [Read more…]

DA: Crime down a ‘remarkable’ 10.5 percent in Anderson County

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The number of crimes reported in Anderson County dropped again last year, continuing a six-year trend, District Attorney General Dave Clark announced Monday.

Crime was down 10.5 percent in Anderson County in 2012, Clark said.

“That is a remarkable result in a single year,” he said. [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…]

Anderson not included in latest judicial redistricting, but legislative session not over

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The most recent proposal to redraw judicial districts in Tennessee did not include Anderson County, but the battle isn’t over yet, an official said Wednesday.

Roane County also would not be affected under the proposal, announced Monday by Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican. The proposal could affect 22 of the state’s 95 counties, said Dave Clark, Anderson County district attorney general.

Still, there is a month or more left in the legislative session in the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville, and the proposals—there are more than a dozen—are subject to amendment, Clark said during a Wednesday morning presentation to the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club.

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Guest column: Anderson County court, criminal prosecution programs at risk

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Proposals to redistrict Tennessee’s 31 judicial districts may cost Anderson County its full-time judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and their staffs. Proponents want to jumble 15 of Tennessee’s 31 judicial districts containing the state’s 95 counties. The pending proposal would eliminate the 7th Judicial District consisting of Anderson County and combine Anderson, Scott, Union, Campbell, Claiborne, and Fentress counties into a single district. If the move is approved in Nashville, local officials and their offices may be relocated, and many other programs may be terminated.

Currently, Anderson County has a single circuit judge, chancellor, district attorney general, and public defender. All of these offices are located in the county seat in Clinton on a full-time basis. The other counties that are part of the proposed new super-district are headquartered in Scott County in the city of Huntsville, Tenn. It is unclear if redistricting would result in all of Anderson’s current officials relocating to Huntsville. However, what is clear is that under the proposal, Anderson County officials would have duties in other counties, some of them an hour or more away, such as Jamestown, the county seat of Fentress County, located on the Cumberland Plateau bordering Kentucky.

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Family withdraws lawsuit over fatal 2010 Oak Ridge police shooting

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Note: This story was last updated at 9:15 a.m. Jan. 17.

The family of a man fatally shot by Oak Ridge police after he allegedly threatened officers with a knife and stabbed a police dog has withdrawn a lawsuit against the city, municipal officials, and four police officers.

The voluntary withdrawal of the lawsuit, a stipulation of dismissal, was filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Nov. 16.

The plaintiffs—the estate of Rodney Eugene Harris, 48, and his wife, Patricia Harris—have one year to refile the civil lawsuit, which sought an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.

A Feb. 4 trial had been scheduled before Senior U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell.

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DA seeks death penalty in child’s death

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m.

Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark announced today he plans to seek the death penalty against an Oak Ridge woman charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 18-month-old granddaughter.

Valerie Stenson was indicted earlier this year in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and an Anderson County grand jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect earlier this year.

Clark announced his intention to seek the death penalty against Stenson in a notice filed in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday.

Suspect shot, killed during struggle over deputy’s weapon in Marlow

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An unidentified person was shot and killed by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy in Marlow on Saturday morning after the suspect fled on foot from a traffic stop and then tried to take the deputy’s weapon during a struggle on Pine Ridge Road, authorities said.

Authorities aren’t releasing the name of the suspect or the deputy, who was injured and taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, where he was treated and released.

The deputy had stopped the suspect’s car at about 10:22 a.m. Saturday, Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in a statement.

“The driver pulled into a driveway, jumped from the car, and fled on foot,” Lucas said. “The deputy gave chase and a short distance later was confronted by the suspect, where a struggle ensued with the suspect trying to take the deputy’s duty weapon. The suspect was shot and killed.”

Lucas said the deputy and “all other personnel involved in the incident will receive critical incident debriefings over the next few days.”

[Read more…]