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BRAXTON PROSECUTOR ARRESTED - Accusations Flying Over Anonymous Call |
| (03/24/2008) |
| By Bob Weaver Problems are swirling in Braxton County, from this weekend's arrest of assistant prosecuting Attorney Daniel Boyd Dotson to new allegations related to magistrate Carolyn Cruikshank. Prosecutor Dotson was incarcerated in Central Regional Jail for domestic assault. He and prosecutor William Martin have been recused from the high profile Cruikshank case. A special prosecutor is outraged about potential jury tampering in the Cruikshank case, although few facts about the accusation are known following an anonymous telephone call. Accusations have been made by an unknown caller from a cell phone to a Braxton judge's secretary against the sister of magistrate Cruikshank, claiming she is tampering with potential members of a jury that could hear a re-trial of a case against Cruickshank. State Police have said Cruickshank, who has been suspended, delivered a copy of a plea agreement and a transcript by Phillip Dailey to Central Regional Jail, where both Dailey and her son have been incarcerated. A hung jury ended the case against the magistrate in December, who was accused of retaliating against a witness who testified against her son Jordon Grubb. A new trial is set for May. Special prosecutor Rob Schulenberg says "Such conduct (referring to Cruickshank's sister) is akin to tampering with jurors, contempt of court and obstructing a law enforcement officer," referring to the un-investigated anonymous call. Schulenberg said an anonymous person called Deborah Facemyer, who is Judge Richard Facemyer's secretary, saying that Cheryl Currence, Cruickhank's sister, was calling prospective jurors. Currance had been making campaign calls by phone to help her sister get re-elected, telling Braxton residents "She (Cruickshanks) is a good magistrate," indicating that authorities have jumped the gun on an anonymous call. State Police are now investigating the origin and nature of the call and trying to determine the owner of the cell phone from which the anonymous call was made. Cruickshanks has been a Braxton County magistrate for eight years, and was frequently at odds with the WV State Police and they with her. Authorities failed to consider a jury tampering charge against a Calhoun WV State Police trooper after he engaged in conversations with at least four jurors during a break in the recent re-trial of the Ronnie Rush murder case. One of the jurors was selected as the foreman of the jury who found Rush guilty.
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