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Damages at an earlier party, employees' failure to report
certain matters, and rangers' not noticing are among the new
questions.
By Bill
Bartleman
Tuesday, September 28,
2004
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky.
State park officials are investigating reports that Lyon County
Attorney Lindell Choat hosted other parties at Kentucky Dam
Village State Resort Park for his teenage stepson, including a
party in either 2002 or 2003 at which $300 to $500 worth of damage
was reported to a cabin.
Choat and his wife, Mary Jane, have been indicted on numerous
charges following a party that police say they hosted Feb. 13 in a
cabin they had rented.
Indictments accuse them of supplying a keg of beer for this
year's party, which was attended by 75 to 80 teenagers, and of
trying to cover up the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Christopher Scott Hollis, 19, of Princeton has been indicted
for attempted rape.
The party was held after the Lyon County High School
homecoming.
Teresa Hill, attorney for the state Commerce Cabinet, said
Kevin Branham, a park employee placed on administrative leave,
revealed information about the previous party when he was
interviewed Monday in Frankfort. "We're checking the records to
confirm the date and the amount of damage," she said.
Also, records obtained by the Sun under Kentucky's open records
law appear to confirm that there were previous parties and that
park employees knew the Choats were planning the Feb. 13 party for
high school students, a point that concerns Commerce Secretary Jim
Host.
Notes about the reservation for a cabin said that Mary Jane
Choat reported: "This is a party for homecoming (Lyon County).
Parents will be there." Because it was a party, the Choats were
required to make a $500 deposit to cover damages. No damages were
reported this year, and the deposit was returned.
The note on the reservation also said that a party was held the
previous year and that housekeeping "said the cottage was OK."
Hill said the Choats apparently were not required to pay for the
damage done in 2002 or 2003.
Host said other employees of Kentucky Dam Village and the
Department of Parks headquarters could be placed on administrative
leave after an internal investigation into events surrounding the
party and a subsequent investigation by the Marshall County
Sheriff's Department and the state attorney general's special
investigations division.
Host said he was outraged when he learned about the party after
indictments were returned Thursday.
"Of all the things that have happened and that we've discovered
in the mismanagement of the parks, this is the worst that I've
seen," Host said. "This is an incident in which there was underage
drinking and the attempted rape of an innocent girl. How would
someone not have noticed that up to 80 teenagers were in a cabin,
drinking?"
He said the number of cars parked at the cabin and noise coming
from it should have been a clue for park rangers and possibly
other park employees to investigate.
Host said he has ordered an internal investigation and the
suspension of anyone who appears to have been negligent in
allowing the party to take place and anyone who failed to notify
Parks Commissioner George Ward of the post-party criminal
investigation.
Ward said he didn't learn of the investigation until he heard
news reports Friday morning that the Choats and Hollis had been
indicted.
Ward said he requested activity logs of park rangers who were
working the night of Feb. 13. "We were told that rangers hadn't
been keeping logs for nine years, even though park policy required
them," Ward said.
Branham, the park business manager, was placed on
administrative leave with pay Friday after he was accused of
failing to notify his superiors in Frankfort that a subpoena had
been issued on March 8 for records related to the party. The leave
will remain in effect "while we continue our internal
investigation," Hill said.
Hill said Branham told attorneys Monday that he wasn't aware a
subpoena had been issued, even though his name was on it. She said
the sheriff's office reported that no one delivered the subpoena
directly to Branham; it was left in the park office.
Branham told attorneys he didn't know about the investigation
until a few weeks ago when questioned by an investigator with the
attorney general's office.
The Choats and Hollis are scheduled to appear in Marshall
Circuit Court on Thursday for arraignment. The Choats are
represented by Paducah attorney Mark Bryant, who said he'll have a
news conference Wednesday to respond to the charges.
Choat, an elected official, has been suspended as prosecutor,
but there are no provisions to remove him as the county attorney.
Asked if Choat planned to resign, Bryant said he'd address that
issue Wednesday.
Lindell Choat is charged with one count of tampering with
physical evidence and two counts of tampering with a witness,
which are felonies, and two counts of first-degree official
misconduct and 13 counts of third-degree unlawful transaction with
a minor, which are misdemeanors.
Mary Jane Choat faces one count of tampering with physical
evidence and 13 counts of unlawful transaction with a minor.
The tampering with physical evidence charge accuses Mary Jane
Choat of performing "an unlawful pelvic examination" of a minor
girl to determine if the girl had been raped. The unlawful
examination concealed "any potential evidence that a crime had
occurred and prevented its introduction at trial," the indictments
said.
The charges of tampering with a witness against Lindell Choat
say that he tried to persuade a Princeton police officer and a
Marshall deputy sheriff not to proceed with a criminal
investigation into the alleged rape by telling the officers he
"had taken care of the matter and there was nothing to it."
The official misconduct charges relate to Lindell Choat’s
alleged failure to report a suspected rape, which he is required
to do as an officer of the court, and for providing alcohol to
underage drinkers.
The unlawful transaction charges relate to providing beer to
underage drinkers, including several who were 15.
