CATLETTSBURG — For the time being, at least, former Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard will have to wait behind bars for his appeal to make its way through the legal system.
Howard’s attorney, Michael Curtis, filed a motion earlier this month in Boyd Circuit Court for his client to be released on bond pending appeal of his rape conviction and 12-year prison sentence.
On Thursday, Judge George W. Davis III denied that motion.
Curtis filed a notice of appeal in the case last month and filed the motion for the appeal bond with the trial court on Aug. 6, according to records.
Releasing Howard on bail pending appeal “would impermissibly constitute a flight risk by the defendant and would pose a continuing danger and threat to the community,” Davis wrote in his order denying Curtis’ motion.
Curtis still has the option of requesting that the Kentucky Court of Appeals set a bond for his client pending its review of his case. He said Thursday that he intended to just that.
A jury on June 29 found Howard, 51, of Sandy Hook, guilty of raping a 27-year-old Boyd County woman while transporting her from Sandy Hook to the Boyd County Detention Center. The woman had been arrested in Elliott County on some outstanding misdemeanor warrants.
The victim testified that Howard drove her to an isolated spot off U.S. 60 in the Rush area and made her have sex with him. She said Howard held her down in the front seat of his vehicle as he was raping her.
Whether Howard had sex with the woman was never in doubt. Howard admitted he had done so, and DNA tests proved it. However, Howard maintained the sex was consensual and that the woman initiated it.
Under state sentencing guidelines, Howard will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he can be considered for parole. He also will have to complete a sex offender treatment program in prison before he can begin earning time that will count toward his parole eligibility.
Howard is in the Greenup County Detention Center, according to the Kentucky Online Offender Lookup System.
Howard, who was in his second term as jailer, resigned his position a month after being convicted. To replace him, Elliott Judge-Executive David Blair appointed Mark E. Lewis, who placed second behind Howard in the 2006 Democratic primary, and who was designated by the fiscal court to transport prisoners after Howard was arrested in September of last year.
Lewis will serve the remainder of Howard’s term, which expires at the end of 2010.
Elliott County has not operated its own jail since 1986, when the state ordered the county to close its lockup. All prisoners from Elliott are transported to jails in other counties to be held, and Elliott pays fees to those counties for housing its inmates.
Local News
Appeal bond denied
Former Elliott jailer will remain behind bars
- Local News
-
-
TIM PRESTON: Karats, peaches, wings and brews, old couches and new beauty
Weekly business column from Tim Preston.
-
Come on in!
It’s time to grab a towel, some sunscreen and your shades — pools in the Tri-State are nearing their opening dates and are bound to provide some days of fun this summer.
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
They were running with the big dogs Saturday in Grayson.
-
A Smith Branch Legacy
Six generations of Robinsons have called Smith Branch home.
-
Court battle heating up over stretch of blacktop
The court fight is just heating up over a block-long stretch of blacktop in Grayson.
More parties are piling on in the lawsuit accusing Grayson of passing an illegal ordinance to take ownership of the pavement. -
Regional jails ‘a total failure’
As the debate over a proposal to create a new Northeast Regional Jail Authority continues, some officials with the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville are watching closely.
-
Beshear in West Liberty to help in tornado recovery
State legislatures and Gov. Steve Beshear gathered in West Liberty on Friday to sign three bills that will help in the recovery efforts of the tornado-stricken town.
-
Students get more than a scoop’s share
There’s nothing more refreshing than ice cream on a hot day, and no one knows that better than the principal of Hager Elementary School in Ashland.
-
2 school aides part of drug arrests
Two elementary school aides and three other people were arrested Thursday in a Carter County drug investigation.
-
5K run main attraction for Final Friday in Greenup
Greenup’s Final Friday included the usual live entertainment and car show, but a 5K run also attracted many to town Friday evening.
- More Local News Headlines
-
TIM PRESTON: Karats, peaches, wings and brews, old couches and new beauty
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
