BY JULIA HUNTER
NEW ERA STAFF WRITER
A man charged with the July 23 stabbing of 34-year-old Chris Govan, of Mechanic Street, was indicted Friday in Christian Circuit Court.

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By Julia Hunter, New Era Staff Writer

ELKTON, Ky. — Three weeks before the scheduled start of a 27-year-old cold case murder trial, the discovery of a single cardboard box may alter the trial for everyone involved.

During a status hearing Thursday in Todd Circuit Court, Logan Circuit Clerk Sherry Wilkins brought a shabby, brown cardboard box into the courtroom.

The box, carried to the witness stand, had the attention of Commonwealth’s Attorney Charles Orange, defendant Norman Graham and defense attorney Carol Johnson.

Its contents have the potential to change the upcoming trial for all of them. It contains the court stenographers’ notes from Graham’s first trial in 1981, which ended in a mistrial. Previously, court officials believed the case file was lost.

Graham, 61, a former Guthrie resident who now lives in Danville, Va.,was indicted in January and charged with capital murder and rape in the death of Janice Kaye Williams, 21, of Guthrie on June 30, 1980.

The grand jury returned the indictment after a Kentucky State Police detective presented new DNA evidence in the case.

William’s body was found in her Guthrie trailer, stabbed 27 times, her throat cut and her hands tied. Evidence showed that she had been sexually assaulted, according to police reports.

Graham was tried shortly after Williams’ death, but it ended in a mistrial. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought again.

The transcripts of that trial had disappeared until Friday afternoon, when Wilkins ventured back into the attic of the Logan County Courthouse to search for them one more time after being contacted by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

Wilkins had hunted for the documents nearly a year ago but couldn’t find them. She said during this trip to the attic she located the box, which was hidden behind others. Graham’s name had almost completely faded from a label on the box.

Since Williams’ death, many of the key witnesses have either died or cannot be located, Judge William Harris said in court Thursday. The transcripts have the potential to provide testimony of unavailable witnesses to be submitted into evidence during the new trial.

“It changes how the game is played,” Johnson said.

But as Wilkins pulled the materials from the box Thursday afternoon, it was clear the condition of the contents might make some of the records inadmissible.

Numerous steno pads, written in shorthand by a court stenographer, who died in 1985, several cassette tapes and other reports, such as lab reports and polygraph results, have been stored for more than 20 years in the attic of the courthouse, which is prone to extreme heat during the summer, said Wilkins. This could have warped the cassette tapes. It was also questionable whether the stenographer’s handwritten notes would be easily understood, Harris said.

“For all we know this stuff may be undecipherable, as far as the stenographer’s notes are concerned” Harris said. “And it is anybody’s guess what condition the tapes are in.”

Popping one of the tapes in a cassette player, Harris decided to determine whether the tapes would be usable, after getting the OK from both prosecution and defense.

A Kentucky State Police detective showed concern about playing the tapes, because according to his lab, if the tapes were in poor condition they may only be able to be played once, which would then destroy them.

However, shortly after Harris pressed play on a tape player, a squeaky, muffled, but audible testimony echoed throughout the courtroom. A recognizable voice — that of Johnson, who represented Graham in 1981 — came over the speaker.

Since the tapes were not apparently destroyed, Harris granted a motion requested by both prosecution and defense to postpone the trial date, which was originally set for Oct. 22.

“If you are going to try to reproduce evidence where it can be used in a trial, it’s going to take so long,” Johnson said.

A court stenographer in Christian County who is familiar with shorthand has agreed to attempt to transcribe the handwritten documents, Orange said. She will likely use the tapes to assist her.

“From what I understand, it is difficult to (transcribe) a steno book without listening to the tape,” Orange said. “Taken together (she) may be able to provide a good transcript.”

Graham remains out on bond.

A pretrial conference has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 7. The trial is set for Feb. 4, 2008 and is expected to last two weeks.

Harris was appointed as a special judge in the case after Circuit Judge Tyler Gill recused himself. His father had been the county attorney when the case was heard in the first time and he was concerned it could create a conflict of interest.

JULIA HUNTER can be reached at 887-3262 or by e-mail at jhunter@kentuckynewera.com.

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BY JULIA HUNTER, NEW ERA STAFF WRITER

Graffiti paintings throughout the city have many local business owners convinced that Hopkinsville has a gang problem.

Today, Sara Dolezal, manager of the Holiday BP on Fort Campbell Boulevard, painted over the graffiti that defaced much of the convenience store and its dumpster. “MS-13” and an unknown Spanish phrase were painted on the building, Dolezal said.

“It’s funny, because you always hear people say that there are no gangs in Hopkinsville,” she said. “(The graffiti) pretty much tells you there is. I think it’s something we need to worry about.”

Police arrested a 17-year-old male around 3 a.m. Tuesday on the lot of First United Methodist Church, after he was seen running from police with a can of spray paint in his hand, according to a report from the Hopkinsville Police Department.

Authorities are still looking for others who could have assisted the suspect in allegedly painting the graffiti, according to Paul Ray, the department’s public information officer. Early Tuesday morning, more than 15 businesses and several other structures were tagged with graffiti that referenced the Hispanic gang, MS-13.

“Because it’s so early (in the investigation), we don’t want to rule anyone else out,” Ray said.

Billy Poteet, the general manager of Zaxby’s on Fort Campbell Boulevard, said after viewing a surveillance video from that morning, he believes there could be more than one person involved in the vandalism.

Although the camera only caught one person spray painting the building, as that person was walking away he did something that made Poteet believe there were others present that the camera may not have caught.

“(As the suspect walked away), he threw his arms up in celebration,” Poteet said. “In my opinion, he was gesturing to someone.”

Poteet said the graffiti, which he found when work began Tuesday morning, was painted over this morning. Although the cost was not much of an issue, he said, the inconvenience of having to clean it up was.

“They tag these buildings and act like it’s a sign of bravery or whatever, but it costs me $3,” Poteet said. “They act like it’s a right of manhood, but it’s just a childhood prank.”

Poteet said he would not be surprised if something like this incident was to happen again.

“It just goes to show that there’s definitely some gang activity in town,” he said. “It’s just like any other social problem. If it’s not looked into in the start, it just escalates and escalates.”

Calvin Givens, of Givens Group, LLC, knows all too well about the gang problem in Hopkinsville, he said.

Tuesday morning was not the first time Givens, who owns and maintains many buildings in the area, has dealt with gang-related graffiti defacing his property.

“We’ve had some other incidents on other properties,” he said. “They’ve tagged them with their spray paint. Gangs seem to be a growing problem in our area.”

Givens is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all the buildings he owns and leases in the area. Tuesday morning, he painted over graffiti on his building at 1222 Skyline Dr., which houses Orthopedics Physical Therapy, Express Check Advance and People’s Security Finance, and a portable storage building that he owns located off of Skyline Drive. He also assisted his parents, who own Skyline Enterprises, in painting over graffiti at Holiday Inn on Fort Campbell Boulevard.

“Obviously, (the graffiti) was gang related,” Givens said. “A lot of young people these days don’t have any respect for other people’s property. They don’t realize how much work goes into keeping something looking nice.”

Graffiti was also painted on Set Free Ministries on South Virginia Street, Southern States on 14th Street, a garage at 1406 S. Campbell St., Walnut Street Center, Wal-Mart on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Shoney’s on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Kmart on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Bradford Square Mall and Shopping Center, Rex TV and Appliance on the mall property, a white Ford pickup truck that was in the parking lot of Knight Electric Motor Service, BellSouth on East 13th Street and a stop sign at Skyline Drive and Industrial Drive.

Officials have estimated the damages will cost more than $7,500.

The suspect was held at the Hopkinsville Police Department, until he appeared in juvenile court at 1 p.m. Tuesday. He was then taken to the McCracken County Juvenile Detention Facility in Paducah, where he remains.

JULIA HUNTER can be reached at 887-3262 or by e-mail at jhunter@kentuckynewera.com.

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Here is Rush Limbaugh exclaiming that there are two kinds of soldiers in Iraq.  The 'real' soldiers who agree with him, and the 'phony' soldiers who disagree with him.  Unbelievable.

I will be so happy when the Democrats and a sense of normalcy finally return to the White House and Congress.   Countin' the days.

Rush at his finest...

They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media." Limbaugh interjected, "The phony soldiers." The caller, who had earlier said, "I am a serving American military, in the Army," agreed, replying, "The phony soldiers."

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