Oak Ridge Today

For members: Man sentenced to 8 years in death of son in crash

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An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison when he pleaded guilty Friday, June 28, 2019, to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son on January 13, 2017. The defendant, Jason Robert Braden II, is pictured above at center in Anderson County Criminal Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represented Braden. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday when he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son in January 2017.

The man told police that he had injected roxycodone about six to eight hours before the crash and was driving to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with a man who had overdosed at the time of the two-vehicle collision at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive, according to court documents.

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison when he pleaded guilty Friday, June 28, 2019, to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son on January 13, 2017. The defendant, Jason Robert Braden II, is pictured above at center in Anderson County Criminal Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represented Braden. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday when he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son in January 2017.

The man told police that he had injected roxycodone about six to eight hours before the crash and was driving to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with a man who had overdosed at the time of the two-vehicle collision at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive, according to court documents.

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Trial set for man charged with vehicular homicide in death of 3-year-old

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A plea agreement has not been reached, and trial dates were set during a plea agreement hearing for Jason Robert Braden, center, in Anderson County Circuit Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represents Braden in a vehicular homicide case from a crash that killed a three-year-old boy in Oak Ridge in January 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A plea agreement has not been reached, and trial dates were set during a plea agreement hearing for Jason Robert Braden II, center, in Anderson County Circuit Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represents Braden in the vehicular homicide case from a crash that killed a three-year-old boy in Oak Ridge in January 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—Prosecutors and the defense have not been able to reach an agreement on a plea deal, so a two-day trial has been set for Jason Robert Braden II, the 25-year-old Anderson County man charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, among other charges, in the death of a three-year-old boy, Jason Robert Braden III, in a crash in Oak Ridge in January 2017.

Braden had two plea agreement hearings scheduled in Anderson County Circuit Court in Clinton last month, one on Friday, March 1, and the other on Friday, March 29. But no agreement was announced during either hearing. The date was rescheduled during the March 1 hearing, and on Friday, defense attorney David Stuart said the defense and the state wouldn’t be able to reach an agreement.

At the start of Friday’s hearing, Stuart said an issue had come up. Braden had requested copies of the discovery, potential evidence that could be used at trial, so copies were made and delivered to the jail, Stuart said. But they went to the wrong Jason Braden, and Jason Robert Braden thinks that’s an ethics breach, Stuart said.

Stuart said he would have to self-report the breach if he thought he had done something wrong. Other legal officials, such as the judge and district attorney general, would also have to report him if they thought he had done something wrong, Stuart said. [Read more…]

Despite censure, lawsuit, calls for resignation, Jones still running in May 1 primary

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The Anderson County Commission, which is pictured above on March 20, 2018, unanimously censured Anderson County Circuit Clerk William Jones on Feb. 20, and asked him to resign after sexual harassment allegations were reported. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Commission, which is pictured above on March 20, 2018, unanimously censured Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones on Feb. 20, and asked him to resign after sexual harassment allegations were reported. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:40 a.m.

CLINTON—He’s been accused of inappropriate behavior that includes unwelcome sexual advances, unwanted touching, and lewd and vulgar text messages. He’s been unanimously censured and asked to resign by the Anderson County Commission. He’s been sued in federal court. And some residents have joined commissioners in asking him to resign, or at least not seek re-election.

Despite those pleas, though, Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones, who has denied many allegations and called others false, is seeking re-election in the Anderson County Republican Party primary election on Tuesday, May 1. Jones has filed counterclaims in federal court and filed a defamation lawsuit in state court.

Some of the sexual harassment allegations appear to have been forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies, including the Tennessee Attorney General, Tennessee Department of Labor, and Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, according to records released by Anderson County. It’s not clear which outside agencies, if any, might be investigating the complaints, or whether the local district attorney general might be investigating.

Willliam T. Jones

Willliam T. Jones

Commission censures Jones, asks him to resign

The accusations against Jones, who is seeking his second four-year term, were publicly disclosed during a review of a sexual harassment complaint at an Anderson County Commission meeting on February 20.

During that meeting, Kim Jeffers-Whitaker, Anderson County’s chief deputy director of human resources and risk management, said her department had received five reports of inappropriate workplace behavior by Jones.

“The five reports create a harassing pattern,” Jeffers-Whitaker said.

She said the reports are supported by two affidavits and four sworn statements that the county’s human resources department obtained from the victims, who include four past or present employees and one citizen.

According to Jeffers-Whitaker, the alleged instances of unprofessional conduct include: [Read more…]

Woman pleads guilty in fatal car-pedestrian crash on Clinton Highway

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Destany Lynn Cotner

Destany Lynn Cotner

 

A Clinton woman has pleaded guilty in a fatal car-pedestrian hit-and-run crash on Clinton Highway in March.

Destany Lynn Cotner, 25, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday to two charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death and driving under the influence (first offense).

As part of the plea agreement, two other charges were dismissed. Those charges were driving with a suspended or revoked license (first offense) and possession of contraband in a penal facility.

It was a plea by information, meaning Cotner had not yet been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury.

Cotner initially told the Tennessee Highway Patrol that she was the driver the night of the crash, but she later changed her story to say her co-defendant Isaac Irwin, 26, also of Clinton, was the driver, according to a narrative filed in the case and attached to warrants.

Cotner received a two-year prison sentence on the conviction of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. As a standard offender, her release eligibility is 30 percent. Her sentence on this felony conviction was suspended, and she will be placed on supervised probation. [Read more…]

Aggravated robbery charge dismissed, Oak Ridge man will get gun back

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Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson

Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson

An aggravated robbery charge filed against an Oak Ridge man in June was dismissed on Tuesday, and the man will get his gun back, court records said.

A hearing had been scheduled for Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson, 21, in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday afternoon.

But the charge was dismissed, attorney David Stuart said. The alleged victim has refused to appear, he said.

Prosecutors had no choice but to not oppose the motion to dismiss, Stuart said.

The defense also got an order to get Dickerson’s gun back, Stuart said. The gun had been placed into evidence at the Oak Ridge Police Department. Its return to Dickerson is subject to a few conditions, including proof of ownership and compliance with city rules and regulations. [Read more…]

Frank questions indictment of appointee

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David Lynn Crowley

David Lynn Crowley

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has questions for District Attorney General Dave Clark concerning the indictment of Public Works Director and Building Commissioner David Crowley.

A letter hand-delivered from the mayor’s office to the DA’s office states that the five misdemeanor charges handed down against Crowley last week by a grand jury do not meet the legal standards for those charges.

Crowley, who was appointed by Mayor Frank in September of 2012, was charged last week with five counts of inspecting houses without the proper certification following a TBI investigation. He turned himself in at the Anderson County jail Thursday morning, posted a $1,000 bond, and returned to work that same day. [Read more…]

Updated: Anderson County building commissioner faces charges in TBI case

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David Lynn Crowley

David Lynn Crowley

Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m.

Anderson County Public Works Director David Lynn Crowley was arrested Thursday morning by agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on five charges of violating state laws dealing with having the proper licenses to perform building inspections.

In a press release, the TBI said Crowley, 62, of Clinton, is accused of performing building inspections he wasn’t certified to do. Crowley was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury. He is charged with five misdemeanor counts of violating the state’s building official certification law.

Crowley was booked into the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton at 9:45 a.m. Thursday and released on a $1,000 bond a little more than an hour later. [Read more…]

County denies payment to attorney detained taking pictures near Clinton Middle

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CLINTON—With no discussion Monday, the Anderson County Commission denied a payment request from a local attorney who had allegedly demanded money before filing a lawsuit over an incident last fall where he was detained while taking pictures near Clinton Middle School.

Clinton attorney Phil Harber said he was photographing school buses that were parked on Marshall Street in Clinton on Oct. 10 when he was detained. The buses allegedly block the route to his home, and he was reportedly planning to use the pictures in a lawsuit against the city, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy William S. Lucas said in an incident report. [Read more…]