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Judge: OTP Murder Charges Can Go Forward:
Stone Rejects Defense Claim of Flawed Indictments

By Will Davis
White County News Telegraph

February 9, 2006

Murder charges against six former White County Outdoor Therapeutic Program (OTP) counselors can go forward despite defense claims the indictments are imperfect, Superior Court Judge Hugh Stone ruled Feb. 1.

Stone heard arguments Jan. 6 from defense attorneys claiming the errors compel him to quash the indictments. If Stone had agreed, District Attorney Stan Gunter would have had to seek new indictments from another grand jury.

Defense attorneys had claimed the indictments contained two errors. One, the indictments listed all 23 grand jurors when only 17 heard evidence and voted to indict. Secondly, the assistant foreman signed the indictments as the foreman because the foreman was out of town.

 

But Stone ruled those facts don't warrant the indictments being thrown out. He said the grand jury met the main legal requirement that between 16-24 members of the grand jury participate in the proceedings. Furthermore, Stone ruled it doesn't matter that the foreman who signed the indictments was only filling in for the vacationing foreman, noting that they take basically the same oath, except for their names. Citing several court cases, Stone ruled the grand jury met the minimum requirements of hte law and the case could proceed.

The indictments in question were handed down in July 2005 for an April 20, 2005 incident that led to the death of 14-year-old camper Travis Jackson. The six defendants, who worked as counselors at the state's Appalachian Wilderness Camp for juvenile delinquents, were Johnny Harris, 26, of Helen, Phillip Elliot, 35, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Paul Michael Binford, 28, Ryan Chapman, 29, Matthew John Desing, 26, and Torbin Vining, 27, all of Athens.

Four have pled not guilty and two defendants still have to enter pleas before the trial can begin.

The men allegedly restrained Parker using a tactic called a “full basket,” pinning him to the ground for more than an hour after a behavior outburst. Counselors said he wouldn't stop fighting their efforts. The medical examiner ruled that Parker died from positional asphyxia and deemed it a homicide. The six men are charged with felony murder, cruelty to children and involuntary manslaughter. Five were fired and one, Harris, resigned. The state Department of Human Resources said they were fired for withholding the boy's asthma inhaler and a regular meal.

 

 

 

 

 

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