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BARKLEY THIELEMAN/The Sun
Blocked from talking: Lindell Choat (second from left), his
wife, Mary Jayne, and attorney Will Kautz listen as attorney
Mark Bryant talks with reporters. |
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Lyon
County Attorney Lindell Choat and his wife will appear in court
today.
By Bill
Bartleman
Thursday, September 30,
2004
Lindell
Choat will not resign as Lyon County attorney and will ask for a
speedy trial on charges related to a beer party he is alleged to
have hosted for his teenage stepson in a cabin at Kentucky Dam
Village State Resort Park on Feb. 13, according to his attorney,
Mark Bryant.
Choat and his wife, Mary Jayne, who also was charged, are
scheduled to appear in Marshall Circuit Court this morning for
arraignment. Bryant said they will plead not guilty and will ask
Judge Dennis Foust to schedule a trial before the end of the year.
Bryant said at a news conference Wednesday that he had planned to
discuss the Choats' side of the case but was informed in an opinion
from the Kentucky Bar Association that discussing those facts would
violate the attorney's code of conduct.
"It's a shame that the commonwealth attorney can speak through
charges in an indictment, but the defendant can't make a public
response," Bryant said.
He said that since the indictments contain only one side of the
case, the public should presume the Choats to be innocent. "That
means you should give them the benefit of the doubt until you hear
all of the facts," which he said won't come out until the trial.
Lindell Choat is charged with two counts of tampering with a
witness because police say he tried to get police officers not to
investigate an alleged attempted rape that took place at the party;
one count of tampering with physical evidence because police say he
allowed his wife to give the attempted rape victim a pelvic
examination; two counts of official misconduct, and 13 counts of
unlawful transaction with a minor because police say he provided
beer to 75 to 80 teenagers.
The first three charges are felonies, each subject to up to five
years in prison, and the 15 others are misdemeanors, subject to up
to one year in jail on each count.
Mary Jayne Choat, who Bryant said is trained as a nurse, is
charged with one count of tampering with evidence because police say
she performed the pelvic examination, and 13 counts of unlawful
transaction with a minor.
The Choats appeared at the news conference with Bryant but did
not answer questions or comment. Bryant said there are apparent
mistakes in the indictments related to statute numbers the Choats
are alleged to have violated. "The statute numbers do not exist,"
said Will Kautz, Bryant's law partner. Also, the indictments
misspelled Mary Jayne Choat's middle name.
Christopher Lee Scott Hollis, 19, of Princeton also will be
arraigned today in Marshall Circuit Court on a count of first-degree
attempted rape.
Meanwhile, records obtained by the Sun though Kentucky's Open
Records Law show that when Mary Jayne Choat made the reservation for
the cottage several days before the Feb. 13 party, she did so under
the name of the Lyon County Attorney's Office.
She also attempted to influence the clerk taking the reservation
by using names of prominent Marshall County officials — County
Attorney Jeff Edwards and then-park manager Brian Roy.
Notes with the reservation said "Jeff Edwards called about this"
and that the reservation was "OK'd by Brian."
However, an affidavit prepared by the clerk, Christy English,
said that those notations are misleading. In the affidavit prepared
for investigators in March, English said Mary Jayne Choat "told me
that she could have Jeff Edwards call and OK it, but I said as long
as Mr. Brian Roy OK'd it, he doesn't need to."
The affidavit also said she later talked to Roy and "he said that
he didn't OK this reservation as she told me in our conversation."
Edwards said he was not involved in the reservation and knew
nothing about the party until the special investigator interviewed
him in March. He said he has no involvement with the park and no
authority to approve or disapprove reservations. He speculated that
Mary Jayne Choat was "name dropping" to make sure the reservation
was approved.
Roy also said he knew nothing about the party and did not approve
the reservation. At the time the reservation was made, he said, he
was on vacation in Florida. He also said he would not be asked to
approve or disapprove a reservation made by an adult.
Roy was removed as park manager on unrelated allegations of
mismanagement. He is appealing his removal to the Kentucky Personnel
Cabinet.
