By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Trial dates have been set for the trial of Cheryl Leighanne Bennett and her mother, Donna Cheryl Logsdon, who are accused of murdering Michael “Mickey” Logsdon in July 2022.
The deceased was Bennett’s father and Logsdon’s husband.
At a pretrial conference for their cases Friday morning in Barren Circuit Court, defense attorney John Olash said he has some motions pending, but “I don’t think it’s appropriate to get into the merits of those motions. I think we should work backwards.”
Olash, who represents Bennett, said that, based on what the court stated at their last proceeding, he was asking for a trial date. He said he believed the commonwealth was in agreement, and he had spoken to Rob Eggert, who is representing Logsdon but wasn’t in court for this proceeding, and Eggert also wanted a trial date.
“I think the earliest that defense could be ready is September,” Olash said. “I don’t know what the court’s calendar looks like.”
Circuit Judge John T. Alexander said he agreed that he had stated his intent was for them to get a trial scheduled at this proceeding.
“I think it’s time now for us to get the clock ticking, so to speak,” the judge said.
He asked for confirmation there was a consensus on getting a trial set, and Blake Chambers, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, confirmed that he, i.e. the commonwealth, is ready for a trial to be scheduled.
Alexander said they could then talk about any motions or other issues that arise in the interim.
“What the parties have suggested is if we get a trial date and then have a pretrial date in December, and then, instead of going back and forth today or next week or whatever regarding scheduling, we could kind of treat this more like a civil case because of the type of discovery issues that’s up in the air,” Olash responded. “And then we could discuss this out of the presence of the court, come back in December and tell the court what we think you should consider, as far as scheduling ….”
He said there are matters of evidence that should be shared, expert disclosures and things of that nature that then could be resolved well in advance of the trial that way, and they can try the case with a minimum amount of uncertainty.
Alexander said he didn’t want to force anything, but his July and August calendars were relatively clear. A civil case has just recently been scheduled for the month of September, though. That would take them to October, and he tries not to schedule anything like that for the first week of October because many people are out of town for fall break, which can make it more difficult to seat a jury and other issues. And November was open, he said.
Olash said that with that in mind, he may need to reset his thinking, and he requested a date in July.
Alexander asked them how long they would expect the trial to take.
Chambers said he was thinking two weeks would be a safe amount of time, and Olash concurred.
The judge then explained, because both attorneys are from other locations and thus are unaccustomed to scheduling here, that Mondays are his “rule” days in court, and second and fourth Tuesdays, he’s in Metcalfe County, which is in the same circuit as Barren County, so those days would be out. He suggested dates in July, beginning on the 9th, that would provide a total of 10 days for the trial, and both attorneys present were OK with that schedule.
After further discussion, a new pretrial conference was set for 11 a.m. Dec. 6.
Chambers said they had planned to depose a potential witness, and that person got sick, so that was delayed, and he suggested that perhaps the deposition could take place the afternoon of that date, if possible. Olash agreed with that.
He also gave the judge a heads up that some of their discussions of evidence and what is shared with the defense as part of the discovery process could require a lengthy hearing at some point. Even if shared, it wouldn’t necessarily mean he would agree to its admissibility, he said.
Alexander asked about the status of Bennett’s substance abuse treatment, as she has been at an out-of-state treatment facility. Olash said the facility doesn’t set “out dates,” but rather his client would have to meet certain benchmarks before she’s released. He said she’s hopeful she’ll be able to leave there in 60 to 90 more days.
He said he is in the process of putting together a plan for sober living and intensive outpatient care when she does leave there to propose to the court. She had been living with her mother, with both out of jail on bond most of the time since they were indicted in January 2023, and he said that was a stressful environment that wasn’t boding well for her success in staying clean, and he didn’t want her to repeat old behaviors once she’s released from the in-patient facility.
Bennett has failed multiple drug tests that were conducted as part of her bond condition and has had to go back to jail and tried treatment before as part of that issue.
Olash said he hoped to have that plan to present to the court at that December pretrial conference.
After a procedural question from Olash to the judge, the proceeding ended.
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