Prosecutor Attorney Cleans-Up Magistrate Docket

Braxton County Prosecuting Attorney Dwayne C. Vandevender hasn’t been on the job for very long, but he has been busy. In addition to his court responsibilities, he recently reviewed and dismissed 150 misdemeanor Magistrate Court cases that were old and under the State Code couldn’t be prosecuted. “For a number of reasons cases often are not or cannot be brought to court,” Vandevender explained. “The Constitution grants individuals a right to a speedy trial and when that doesn’t occur state law requires that the case be dismissed. I reviewed cases that were at least three years old and filed motions to have them removed from the court docket. I did the same thing when I first became prosecutor in Webster County. This takes a lot of clutter out of the court docket and allows more attention to be paid to current cases.”
State Code says in part… “A prosecution for a misdemeanor shall be commenced within one year after the offense was committed:”
The Prosecutor went on to say that cases that he dismissed often result when an individual can’t be located to be served with a warrant or the accused is now deceased.
Editor’s Note: Though lengthy, the list of names of those whose cases were dismissed is listed below. Since these names were most likely printed in the regular coverage of the Magistrate Court in this publication or the Citizens’ News, we feel it is only fitting that the public should be made aware of the charges have been dropped.
The following individuals have had misdemeanor charges dismissed by Magistrate David Singleton: Dustin Gard of Blacksville; Jeffrey E. Smith of Frametown; Catherine Lynn Francis of Gassaway; Sherri E. Tingler of Sutton; Paul Larry Rhoer of Sierra Vista, AZ; Bonnie Forsback of Hurricane; Latanya R. Chenier of Sutton; Jay Parker of Petersburg, AK; Lisa M. Jenkins of Gassaway; Joseph Jenkins of Sutton; Rebecca A. Skidmore of Gassaway; Jeremy Fritz of Junction City, KS; Wendy Walters of St. Albans; Jack L. Peters of Sutton; Jack Peters of Annapolis, MD; Damon L. Jarvis of Sutton; Samuel Holm of Salt Lake City, UT; Nicholas G. Stoddard of Eden, NY; Brian K. Balthis of Sutton; Charles E. Dennison, unknown; Ryan Richardson of Gassaway; John Trent Wiggin, unknown; Mark Crawford of Gassaway; Tim Putnam, unknown; Steven Kenerson of Morgantown; USA Express, Inc. of Waynesboro, PA; Austin J. Jaggie of Nitro; Mark Crawford of Gassaway; Joseph W. Lafromboice of Gassaway; Kyle Dobbs, unknown; Kelly D. Ayers of Sutton; Ronald E. Taylor of Strange Creek; Mark Ramsey of Sutton; Jamie Malcomb of Tioga; Michael Tietz of Burnsville; Ann Briggs of Sutton; Karen J. Davis of Jewell Ridge, VA; Floyd Howel of Weirton; Juliana Jerrell of Sutton; Joshua M. White of Sutton; Lou E. Nottingham of Gassaway; Eimores Construction of Charleston; Lori Ann Pierson of Hurricane; Ashraf Dirar Ahmad of South Charleston; Victor Jordan of Rosedale; Deborah J. Jarrell of Sutton; Carrie J. Peyatt of Sutton; Michelle Vance of Sutton; Doning Mitchell Morales of Cottle; Annette Bosely of Walkersville; William B. Hacker, Jr. of Sutton; Rose M. Freeman of Burnsville; Billy Joe Richter of Farmington, PA; Gerald P. Tinney, Jr. of Craigsville; Joshua Todd Godfrey of Stouts Mills; Tamara Cicogna of Bethel Park, PA; Jamie Post of Gassaway; Daniel L. Jordan of Charleston; Loretta Rexroad of Flatwoods; Michelle Vance of Sutton; Ryan Ashley Hubbs of Paris, OH; Elizabeth Chifonda of Orma; Scott Eugene Carper of Newtown; Carl J. Payne of Sutton; Vaughn Summers of Sutton; Dennis Peer, Sr. of Irwin, PA; Dwight D. Henline of Burnsville; Sara Heater of Burnsville; Benjamin Wooten of Crawford; Joei Book of Sutton; Jamie L. Talley of Sutton; Nick Shaw of Sutton; Chad Woods, unknown; Clarence R. Flinn, Jr. of Sutton; Erica Morrison of Burnsville; Ronald E. Taylor of Strange Creek; Marshall E. Short of Craigsville; Lisa G. Ronk of Gassaway; and Tracy Grass of Sutton.
The following individuals were dismissed by Magistrate Beth Smith: Debra K. Wood of Duck; Wesley Pitillo of Clearmont, FL; Corbett Lee Greene of Nettie; Mark Crwford of Gassaway; Chester Keith Brest of Beaver Falls, PA; Dennis Cicogna of Buckhannon; Dustin Rose of Winfield; Letitia Holmes, unknown; Gary Carte of Sutton; Melody Hacker of Gassaway; Lorren D. Hellens, Sr. of Quinwood; Greg Allen Reed of Frametown; Thomas Rhent, unknown; Charlotte Dempsey of Camden on Gauley; Chad Stacy Hampton of Big Stone Gap, VA; Lindsey D. Brady of Sutton; Richard Andrew Minnich of Gassaway; Lou E. Nottingham of Gassaway; Gladys Lambert of Logan; Jamie D. Post of Gassaway; Krista Jones of Sutton; Kayla Marie Lasala of Glenville; Douglas Charles Kniceley of Jane Lew; Jamie Lee Miller of Frametown; Michael Woodyard of Clarksburg; Brandin Kimberling of Gassaway; Scott Blake of Gassaway; Crystal Coleman of Wellsburg; Justin Adam Estep of Gandeeville; Larry Jackson of Little Birch; Susan Mollohan of Duck; Zara Allen Litton of Sutton; Jesse E. Hardy of Sutton; Angela D. Skidmore of Sutton; Randy F. Thayer of Orlando; Christopher A. Bonn of Savannah, GA; Tonya D. Ledford of Gassaway; Lisa M. Jenkins of Sutton; Joseph M. Jenkins of Sutton; Delvia Fowler, unknown; Amy Thompson of South Charleston; Samantha L. McCraw of Sutton; Heather Michelle Smith of Sutton; Byron Spiker of Sutton; Jeremiah McCutcheon of Sutton; Jack L. Peters of Sutton; Rebecca Skidmore of Gassaway; Madonna K. Fisher of Ireland; Elizabeth Sartin of Sutton; Michael Mercer of Morgantown; Rusty Tolan of Sutton; Sarah Manning of Sutton; James R. Mackinley, Jr. of Charleston; Jessica Lynn Minney of Burnsville; The Wyatt Foundation of Thatcher, ID; Roger G. Smith of Frametown; Kevin McCaulley of Masontown; Cole Garrett Tawney of Looneyville; Aaron Devon Williams of Sutton; Frank Anthony Pisino of Flemington; Michael Smith of Spencer; Leonard D. Jarvis of Duck; Dorion Marcellus Nash of Pittsburg, PA; Angel Hoyt of Sutton; Luther Ford Powers of Sutton; Nathan Matthew Loyd of Sutton; Stephen Greenleaf of Gassaway; George Brewton of Exchange; Jason Smith of Fairmont; and Delbert Lee Rose of Sutton.