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WZTV FOX 17 - Top Stories
45-year-old Stephen Morris is on trial for allegedly abusing his grandfather but says the indictment that led him here should never have been handed down.
"It's not just me that this is happening to," Morris said. "There's lot of them, you said it yourself 800 or 900 cases that half of them should have never hit the court system anyway."
Morris' case is one of almost 900 where indictments were handed down by a Davidson County grand jury and foreman Eugene Grayer between July and September of 2011.
Last month it was revealed Grayer had a felony conviction in 1978, which made him ineligible to serve.
Morris said that makes the indictments tainted.
"I do believe that some cases were made to stick and were indicted and some of them weren't and they didn't get indicted," Morris said.
Some 800 cases stemming from those indictments have already been resolved. A representative from the district attorney's office says there are no plans to reopen them, and says they don't anticipate any problems resolving the more than 80 cases that are still pending.
Prosecutors can either go to a new grand jury and ask for a new indictment or get what's called a criminal information which routes cases directly to trial.
Defense attorney Worrick Robinson says in 20 years practicing law, he's never seen anything like this.
"I believe the district attorney's office has made the decision that the original indictments are defective and so they're going to proceed and move forward," Robinson said. "They will prosecute every case."
But Morris says, win or lose, he won't stop at the end of his criminal trial.
"We'll just say it involves going across the street to the civil court afterward," Morris said.
The district attorney's office says the almost 90 pending felony cases range from drug charges and sex crimes to homicides.
Grayer was personally selected as the grand jury foreman by judge Monte Watkins. Watkins' office says the judge can t comment on anything that would affect pending cases.
"It's not just me that this is happening to," Morris said. "There's lot of them, you said it yourself 800 or 900 cases that half of them should have never hit the court system anyway."
Morris' case is one of almost 900 where indictments were handed down by a Davidson County grand jury and foreman Eugene Grayer between July and September of 2011.
Last month it was revealed Grayer had a felony conviction in 1978, which made him ineligible to serve.
Morris said that makes the indictments tainted.
"I do believe that some cases were made to stick and were indicted and some of them weren't and they didn't get indicted," Morris said.
Some 800 cases stemming from those indictments have already been resolved. A representative from the district attorney's office says there are no plans to reopen them, and says they don't anticipate any problems resolving the more than 80 cases that are still pending.
Prosecutors can either go to a new grand jury and ask for a new indictment or get what's called a criminal information which routes cases directly to trial.
Defense attorney Worrick Robinson says in 20 years practicing law, he's never seen anything like this.
"I believe the district attorney's office has made the decision that the original indictments are defective and so they're going to proceed and move forward," Robinson said. "They will prosecute every case."
But Morris says, win or lose, he won't stop at the end of his criminal trial.
"We'll just say it involves going across the street to the civil court afterward," Morris said.
The district attorney's office says the almost 90 pending felony cases range from drug charges and sex crimes to homicides.
Grayer was personally selected as the grand jury foreman by judge Monte Watkins. Watkins' office says the judge can t comment on anything that would affect pending cases.
Monday, February 11 2013, 10:12 PM CST
Tennessee News
Ky. veteran killed in Afghanistan blast
May 17, 2013 23:53 GMT
FORT THOMAS, Ky. (AP) -- A Kentucky veteran who was working as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan has died in an explosion in Kabul that killed at least 15 people including six Americans.
The father of 26-year-old Michael Robert Bradford of Fort Thomas said his son was smart, good in different sports and about to become a father.
Gary "Moose" Bradford, also of Fort Thomas, told The Kentucky Enquirer (http://bit.ly/12i0nVO ) he found about his son's death from Michael Bradford's wife, Sasha, on Thursday afternoon. He said he was in total disbelief.
The couple's first child is due in a few weeks.
Two American soldiers were killed along with four American civilian contractors with DynCorp International, based in Falls Church, Va.
Other survivors include his mother, Linda Bradford of Johnson City, Tenn.
Information from: The Kentucky Enquirer, http://www.nky.com
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