Griffith house to stand after motion
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 14, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/griffith-house-to-stand-after-motion/article_046042ee-5ae0-11e7-82ab-10604b9f0f42.html
The Reidland home of Keith Griffith, accused of killing his wife and setting fire to their house with their dogs and her still inside, will remain standing until at least July after McCracken Circuit Judge Tim Kaltenbach denied a motion by County Attorney Sam Clymer to revisit demolishing the structure.
The burnt remains of the Tudor Boulevard home have been a bone of contention since last summer, when the county charged Griffith with violating a county ordinance because the structure was unfit for human habitation.
Last summer, Kaltenbach ruled the house was to remain standing until the February trial against Griffith was complete. The jury, however, was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. Griffith remains in jail awaiting another trial.
In his motion, Clymer asked the judge to again consider allowing the county the demolish the house, saying all expert analysis for the murder case against Griffith has been completed and the structure is no longer of value to the case.
County Commissioner Bill Bartleman, who lives near the Griffith house, has been a staunch supporter of the county's push to tear down the structure, saying it serves as a daily reminder of what happened there.
"My personal view is there is no evidence in the house that would help on either side," he said. "There have been vandals in there, the family has come and taken stuff out. My personal opinion is there is nothing of value in that house."
Bartleman added that he was confident that in 90 days the judge will decide to release the house and allow it to be torn down.
In his ruling, Kaltenbach said the court will revisit the question of the house in July to allow Griffith's new defense team time to do their own analysis.
Griffith's attorneys during the first trial, Mark Bryant and Emily Roark, withdrew as counsel after the mistrial saying they could not give another year to the case and adequately serve their other clients. Griffith's case was then assigned to the Paducah Public Defenders Office.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee said the ruling on the house makes no difference to the prosecution's case.
"We released the house in probably late January or early February of 2014 to the defense," he said. "It has no evidentiary value to us or to law enforcement, because we did all of our testing a year ago."
Kaltenbach also ruled against a motion to reduce Griffith's bond, which was filed by Chris McNeill, directing attorney at the public defender's office.
Griffith is being held at McCracken County Jail on $1 million bond. McNeill asked the bond be reduced to 10 percent cash or property, which means $100,000 cash or $200,000 worth of property could be posted for his release.
"The only new development in this case is that a mistrial was declared," the judge wrote. "This is not new evidence that would alter the court's previous ruling ... Further, according to reports from the media, the majority of the jury was in favor of a guilty verdict.
"Griffith has been indicted for Kentucky's most serious offenses, a premeditated murder and arson," Kaltenbach continued. "He is facing a capital offense with at least one aggravating circumstance, and is eligible for the death penalty. A bond set at $1 million cash is not unreasonable under the circumstances."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
The burnt remains of the Tudor Boulevard home have been a bone of contention since last summer, when the county charged Griffith with violating a county ordinance because the structure was unfit for human habitation.
Last summer, Kaltenbach ruled the house was to remain standing until the February trial against Griffith was complete. The jury, however, was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. Griffith remains in jail awaiting another trial.
In his motion, Clymer asked the judge to again consider allowing the county the demolish the house, saying all expert analysis for the murder case against Griffith has been completed and the structure is no longer of value to the case.
County Commissioner Bill Bartleman, who lives near the Griffith house, has been a staunch supporter of the county's push to tear down the structure, saying it serves as a daily reminder of what happened there.
"My personal view is there is no evidence in the house that would help on either side," he said. "There have been vandals in there, the family has come and taken stuff out. My personal opinion is there is nothing of value in that house."
Bartleman added that he was confident that in 90 days the judge will decide to release the house and allow it to be torn down.
In his ruling, Kaltenbach said the court will revisit the question of the house in July to allow Griffith's new defense team time to do their own analysis.
Griffith's attorneys during the first trial, Mark Bryant and Emily Roark, withdrew as counsel after the mistrial saying they could not give another year to the case and adequately serve their other clients. Griffith's case was then assigned to the Paducah Public Defenders Office.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee said the ruling on the house makes no difference to the prosecution's case.
"We released the house in probably late January or early February of 2014 to the defense," he said. "It has no evidentiary value to us or to law enforcement, because we did all of our testing a year ago."
Kaltenbach also ruled against a motion to reduce Griffith's bond, which was filed by Chris McNeill, directing attorney at the public defender's office.
Griffith is being held at McCracken County Jail on $1 million bond. McNeill asked the bond be reduced to 10 percent cash or property, which means $100,000 cash or $200,000 worth of property could be posted for his release.
"The only new development in this case is that a mistrial was declared," the judge wrote. "This is not new evidence that would alter the court's previous ruling ... Further, according to reports from the media, the majority of the jury was in favor of a guilty verdict.
"Griffith has been indicted for Kentucky's most serious offenses, a premeditated murder and arson," Kaltenbach continued. "He is facing a capital offense with at least one aggravating circumstance, and is eligible for the death penalty. A bond set at $1 million cash is not unreasonable under the circumstances."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
