By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Trial preparations continue in the case of a mother and daughter accused of killing their husband and father, respectively, in Glasgow in July 2022.
Donna Cheryl Logsdon, now 73, and Cheryl Leighanne Bennett, now 48, both of whom go by their middle names, are accused of killing Michael “Mickey” O. Logsdon by tampering with the machine that enabled Mickey Logsdon’s breathing.
Bennett was arrested in November 2022, and Logsdon was arrested the following January after a grand jury chose to return indictments against both women. Trial dates have been scheduled in July.
The primary focus of Friday’s pretrial conference was status updates on various motions that have been or may soon be filed by the respective attorneys.
John Olash, defense attorney for Bennett, had filed a motion sometime back seeking data, including video, possibly, from a Ring doorbell. Blake Chambers, special prosecutor for the case, said he believed they had received a response from that company and forwarded it to the respective defense teams, but if that hadn’t occurred, it would be later that day.
Olash said that, from what he’d been told, the response wasn’t what was expected, because the company essentially said there was no data there because the subscription for the service wasn’t active at the time.
“So, I’m going to look at that response. I’m sure we’ll have some questions,” he said, adding that, although the commonwealth had made a good-faith effort to get the information, there may be additional work to be done.
Olash has also filed two motions regarding the testing of some bodily fluids taken as samples during Mickey Logsdon’s autopsy. He said a test had already been done that showed whether any drugs were present, but not necessarily to what extent. He had spoken with the medical examiner and requested a quantitative test to get more information, particularly about the possible presence of quetiapine, which is also known by the brand name Seraquel. He asked the judge to order that test be done.
Quetiapine is used to treat mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, as well as schizophrenia, according to drugs.com.
Hand-in-hand with that, he requested an order for quantitative testing on all the drugs found in the deceased’s body, “so we can have our expert look at that and see if the combination of those drugs at the level detected played a role in his demise.”
Olash said his final motion is for the defense and prosecution to get a copy of a medical order via Logsdon’s insurance company, United Healthcare, that Logsdon was supposed to be transitioned from the type of breathing device he had been using – a BiPAP or bilevel positive airway pressure machine – to a ventilator.
Chambers said he had noticed that the two defendants’ cases had not been formally consolidated for trial purposes, and he wanted to do a little more research before he decides whether he should file a motion to do so. He said that if they weren’t consolidated, he would want to try Bennett first. He also anticipated filing some other motions, but the question of whether they are consolidated would drive the bus for the others.
Rob Eggert, co-counsel for Logsdon, along with Nick Boggs from a separate law firm, requested that the judge give Chambers a two-week deadline to decide whether he wants the cases consolidated and submit a motion to that effect, so the defense can know how best to prepare for trial.
“That’s such a basic thing, I don’t wait another 35 or 45 days to get that …,” Eggert said. “Then we can respond and argue after that if we need to.”
Circuit Judge John T. Alexander discussed his calendar options, and concluded by telling Chambers to have any such motion to consolidate filed by Feb. 28, and then they could meet again for another pretrial conference March 7, and the defense would have that third week in the interim to respond to such a motion.
The judge then called for a recess to discuss certain matters with the attorneys in his chambers. He told Logsdon’s attorneys they could attend, but it didn’t relate directly to their case. They went but returned to the courtroom after a couple or so minutes. After a total of a little more than 10 minutes, Olash and Chambers and the judge had returned, and an open court session resumed.
Alexander said he had called them into his chambers to discuss what kind of bond conditions he was expecting for Bennett, and he called her up to his bench so he could have him right in front of her to make sure she understood.
Bennett had been allowed to go to an out-of-state inpatient treatment facility for drug addiction, and Alexander said that when she was released from treatment, there was some question as to whether she would have to wear an ankle monitor while at a transition home, also known as a halfway house, in a different county.
He said he told them that as long as she was there and they could keep up with where she was, she wouldn’t have to have the added expense of using one and for other reasons.
The judge said he wasn’t assigning any fault with his observation , but the people with the monitoring company had not been able to keep up with her whereabouts with that situation.
Ultimately, he told her that she is essentially still confined to one place, so if she was going anywhere besides that home, she was to get permission in advance from the monitoring company and keep them updated. Plus, that company, U Turn, need to know when she has drug screenings there and the results, and they have to be able to call to confirm she’s there.
“What I want is for them to be able to verify tests and presence,” Alexander said.
He said he would put all that in writing so that everyone understood.
If they couldn’t make that work, the judge said, she would have to go back to wearing a monitor.
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