By Rita Howell
A defendant in Batesville Municipal Court was sentenced to 60 days in jail for failure to pay a fine imposed in December, 2001.
"That’s just a little bit too long," said Judge Pro Tempore Jay Westfaul when Antonio Harrell of 387 Bill Wallace Road, Batesville, asked for more time to pay the fine. Harrell also pleaded guilty to a current charge of shoplifting. He will owe a fine of $595 60 days after he gets out of jail.
Also sentenced to jail time was Percy Robertson of Noble St., Batesville, who owed $2,456 in fines from August, 2002. He failed to pay the fine or complete his city work release assignment. Robertson was sentenced to six months in jail and was ordered to pay $439 two months after he is released. The new fine is for new traffic charges of no tag and no driver’s license.
Katie Johnson of 315 Travis Road, Courtland, pleaded guilty to petit larceny and was fined $295.
Latiffany Dishmon of 213 Dewberry St., Sardis, pleaded guilty to shoplifting and was fined $595.
James Beavers of 116 Rutherford Rd., Pope, pleaded guilty to public drunk and public profanity and was fined $510. He also owes $452 in old fines from a previous conviction.
Willie Reed of 106 Lawson St., Batesville, pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct, but told the judge he was innocent of a second charge, public drunk.
"I don’t drink," Reed told the judge.
Westfaul remanded the public drunk charge to the court files and took no action on that. He fined Reed $595 on the disorderly conduct charge.
Contempt of court
Jeffrey Young of 142 Ford Road, Batesville, paid a cash fine of $772 for old fines prior to court.
Kerry McGhee of 208 Claude St., Batesville, paid a fine of $247 for contempt of court prior to the court session.
Robert Grant of 99 Whipporwill Road, Pope, failed to appear in court to answer contempt of court charges for fines he has owed since 2000. His bondsman was notified.
Eric Towns of 705 Jones St., Crenshaw, failed to appear, for the fifth time, on contempt of court charges for 2001 fines. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Continued
Judge Westfaul set for trial on April 6 two charges of simple assault by threat filed against Roy "Doug" Fowler of Bell Road, Courtland, by Robert Shepard.
Also set for trial was the case of Lawrence Kuykendall Jr. of 168 M. Flowers Road, Batesville, charged with simple assault, public drunk and disorderly conduct. Kuykendall told the judge he is not guilty of the disorderly conduct charge. The case will be heard March 30.
Scheduled for trial next week, March 23, is the case of James Taylor of 215 Vance, Batesville, who is charged with open container. Taylor told the judge he is not guilty because he was on private property when the incident occurred.
Tickets
James C. Norwood of 480 Callie Norwood Road, Sardis, pleaded guilty to speeding and was fined $96. He told the judge he was not guilty of expired tag. He explained that he was on his way to purchase a car tag when he was stopped for speeding. The judge dismissed the expired tag charge.
Jessie Martin of 472 Mallard Pt. Road, Batesville, was enrolled in a defensive driving course to avoid having a speeding ticket appear on his driving record. The program is offered for young drivers. If they show proof of successfully completing the course, their traffic fine is dropped.
Yvonne Keen showed proof that she has a valid license tag and a charge of expired tag was dismissed.
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