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Judge Dismisses Mingo Charges; Set To Hear More ArgumentsWILLIAMSON, W.Va. (AP) - A circuit judge will hear arguments this week on whether he should dismiss a series of misdemeanor indictments issued by a grand jury last month on the grounds that the defendants were never tried after they were indicted on similar charges in June 1988.Circuit Judge Patrick Henry late last week dismissed the original indictment against 15 Mingo County politicians and a corporation. He ruled that the grand jury that returned the indictment on April 7,1988, was improperly empaneled due to the illegal appointment of a jury commissioner by former Special Judge Dan O’Hanlon.Henry also ruled that two defendants, James B. Simpkins and Ronald J. Rumora, were granted immunity by O’Hanlon on Aug. 5,1986, in return for grand jury testimony involving the 1984 election. He also found that the cases should have been severed, or tried separately, and that a change of venue was necessary.The dismissed charges alleged the politicians and one corporation were involved in a conspiracy to illegally influence the outcome of the 1984 and 1986 elections. As part of that conspiracy, the defendants allegedly contributed to a political slate headed by Johnie Owens, the Democratic chairman who is now in federal prison.Henry’s ruling dismisses indictment handed down April 7, 1988, during the January 1988 term of Mingo Circuit Court.According to motions that will be argued this week, three subsequent court terms have since passed without prosecution — the April 1988, September 1988 and January 1989 terms — and the latest charges should be dismissed for failure to prosecute. Another pending motion says the cases should be dismissed because the defendants asked for an immediate trial, which was not held in that or the subsequent court terms.A favorable ruling on either point would make it impossible to reindict the defendants, as was done June 3 by the current special grand jury.Special Judge Robert C. Halbritter of Preston County will be in Mingo County on Wednesday to hear the latest motions.Charges were dismissed in the 1988 indictment against Williamson Mayor Sam G. Kapourales, former state Sen. John Pat Fanning; former prosecutor W. Thomas Ward; former county clerk Hugh Wellman; school board members Robert L. Simpkins and Paul Sizemore; county commissioners Steve Adkins and Ronald J. Rumora; former magistrate Bill Webb; and R. Doyle Van Meter II, Irvine “K.O.” Damron and James B. Simpkins, all formermembers of the House of Delegates.Also, assessor Joey Kohari, former circuit clerk Robert J. “Jack” Webb; former school board member Larry C. Hamrick, who also served as director of the Mingo County anti-poverty agency; and Goodwill Motors Inc., a Delbarton used car dealership, salvage yard and wrecker service once owned by former county commissioner and Democratic Chairman Stewart Justice and then by his son, Paul.
Newspaper Details
Herald Star
Steubenville, Ohio, US
Mon, Jul 10, 1989
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WV, USA 09 Jan 2024
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