LOGAN COUNTY : 1 JP gets 3 /2-year term in assault on family
Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2008
Logan County Justice of the Peace Stephen Kennedy was
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sentenced to 3 /2 years in prison after being convicted of attacking his family a year ago.
Kennedy, 65, was found guilty of leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident. The sentence was handed down late Thursday by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Danielson and included a $10,000 fine.
Prosecuting Attorney Tom Tatum said the jury of seven men and five women took about three hours to reach the verdict and another 30 minutes on the sentencing recommendation.
As a convicted felon, Kennedy can no longer hold public office. His term on the county Quorum Court expires Dec. 31, and he lost a bid for re-election earlier this year.
Kennedy also was convicted on two counts of first-degree assault and one count of thirddegree battery, all misdemeanors. He originally was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one of first-degree battery, all felonies.
Danielson sentenced Kennedy to a year in the county jail and fined him $1,000 on each of the misdemeanor convictions. The jail terms were ordered to run concurrently with the felony conviction; the fines were added to the $10,000 fine for total fines of $13,000, Tatum said.
The jury acquitted Kennedy of driving while intoxicated and third-degree domestic battery.
Kennedy was accused of assaulting his now-former wife Lori Kennedy, 42, and stepson James Luttrell, 19, on Dec. 7, 2007, while drunk.
Police said Lori Kennedy, Luttrell and the Kennedy's son Clifford, 14, fled their home in a pickup to escape Stephen Kennedy. The justice of the peace gave chase in another vehicle, ramming the pickup and sending if off the road, where it overturned, pinning Clifford and breaking his leg.
Defense attorney Ernie Witt of Ozark said Friday that he was pleased that jurors heeded his argument that Lori Kennedy and Luttrell had attacked Kennedy and that his client was not driving drunk.
Witt told jurors that Kennedy did not drink until after he returned home after the chase and that his blood-alcohol content was not tested until three hours later.
The test showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.14 percent. A person with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated in Arkansas.
Witt said he did not anticipate an appeal by Kennedy.
Tatum said he was satisfied that Kennedy would serve time in prison. He also said he was not disappointed with the jury's leniency since Kennedy is 65, had no previous criminal record and was an elected official.
Witt said with time already served before the trial, Kennedy likely will not be in the Arkansas Department of Correction's custody for more than a month.
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