A now-former Calhoun County Schools bus driver, Jeffrey Brannon, appeared for a status hearing in the Court of Judge Anita Harold Ashley, Thursday, October 24th, 2024 by Microsoft teams video.
Mr. Brannon, charged with DUI Resulting in Serious Injury (3 counts), Gross Child Neglect Resulting in Risk of Death (16 counts) and Child Neglect Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (3 counts) was represented in the court room by Daniel Minardi, Public Defender. Both Prosector, Michael Hicks and Defense Attorney Minardi worked together to prepare a questionnaire to determine juror qualifications in this high profile case in Calhoun County for whichJudge Ashley commended them for their efforts. The questionnaires will be sent to jurors over the next few days and are expected to be returned by November 14th.
A Pretrial date was set for November 21st at 9 a.m.
Thomas J. Roberts, with Attorney Daniel F. Minardi appeared for a status hearing in case 24-F-17 Attorney Minardi filed a motion to dismiss prior to Pretrial believing a matter of the indictment language as in error by stating the that the victim was a child, but is no over 30 years of age.
Prosecutor Hicks stated that he had filed his response and believe it was clear that the defendant had continued to fail to pay child support for a minor, who now happens to be an adult, stating that Mr. Roberts had been pretty brazen having had to be charged criminally for owing approximately $100,000 in arrearages of his support obligations.
Judge Ashley responded that the court agrees with the prosecution, it’s clear why the motion should be denied, that just because a child is now an adult does not prevent prosecution. A November trial date was set.
In the case of 23F12, State of WV vs. Stephan Dewayne Kilgore, charged with Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Judge Ashley was in receipt of the pre-investigation report filed by Alisha Lawson, Probation Officer. Mr. Kilgore appeared with Attorney Daniel Minardi who stated that the investigation report had a duplicate charge from South Carolina by the defendant. Judge Ashley responded that it was a National Data Base report and could not be amended.
Crystal Badgett testified on behalf of the defendant stating that Mr. Kilgore has been there for her when she was helpless, and he helps the elderly with firewood as well as many others. She further said that he had helped to get her home winterized and worked on their vehicles. This statement was for the purpose of requesting leniency on the defendant.
Attorney Minardi defended Mr. Kilgore stated that the largest percent of the criminal history was more than ten years ago and that Mr. Kilgore has had the opportunity to rehabilitate and has made some different mistakes. He has complied with previous probation and had a chance to discuss the drug screen stating the defendant didn’t know how anything got in his system. He believes that he can comply with the sentence or an alternative sentence with any level of supervision and would like to be a productive member of society. Mr. Minardi argued that because these are crimes against the state and not individuals, the person charged bears the greater consequence than the officer.
Prosecuting attorney Hicks stated that the State stands silent according to the plea agreement.
Mr. Kilgore spoke on his own behalf saying “I know I only have one sex offense, I moved here to help my family and I’m trying to be a good person and stay out of trouble and I did make a mistake, I didn’t understand it at first but I do now, I have been keeping up my registration and I would like to do home confinement.
Judge Ashley was stern in her sentencing. “You down played the seriousness of what you did,” she said and “You did test positive during this time for alcohol, marijuana and meth. Because of that I cannot put you on probation or home confinement but sentence you to 1-5 years, with credit for 2 days, you have the right to appeal.”
Stephen Kilgore was placed in the custody of Sheriff Graham Knight for transportation to the WV Central Regional Jail.
Seriously? Did you read this? Unbelievable! Unacceptable!! I know that if I had worked in construction I would be interested in articles about building. If I had worked in health care I would be interested in reports on Minnie Hamilton. If I was a teacher it would be the schools. And on and on. I am interested in all of those but what I gravitate towards and what I understand is prosecution and criminal court because I have spent over 44 years of my life in the criminal court system. But, it doesn’t take that to be outraged by what is reported in this article. And, as I have said before in other comments, you should be more than a little bit afraid. I don’t know Mr. Kilgore. He might be a very well meaning and helpful individual as his friend testified notwithstanding his lengthy criminal history, his “only one” sex offense, his use of alcohol, marijuana and meth even while being screened for an alternative sentence and his plea for leniency to the Court. Did you pick up on that in the story? The plea of leniency was to the Court because our prosecutor promised to remain silent at sentencing in order to induce a plea. Why? Why remain silent on a charge that is as simple as they come to prove to a jury at trial. Here’s how that goes…
1. Officer, do you know the defendant?
2.Do you know where the defendant lives?
3. Is the defendant a convicted sex offender?
4. Did the defendant register as a convicted sex offender to live at that address?
No further questions.
The defense argued to the Court that failure to register is a crime against the state, suggesting it is victimless. Of course the prosecutor couldn’t respond because he had agreed to remain silent to induce the plea in the beginning. Don’t be fooled by the argument. Failure to register is a crime against us all. The reason the law requires registration is so that the public is aware of the residence of the sex offenders in their community. There are state data bases available to the public that show where registered sex offenders live. You can go on line and find out if a convicted sex offender lives next door to where your children play. You can make your own determination as to whether you and your children are safe. When a sex offender fails to register your safety is at risk. Why would a sex offender not register? Because they don’t want anyone to know where they live. Why would a prosecutor not aggressively prosecute this crime to protect the citizens in the community? Is a plea that important when the trial is so easy? It might be to a prosecutor that doesn’t want to go to trial. What kind of message does this send? I know what message it sends to me. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.