Kanawha County grand jurors have found probable cause to indict a Charleston man on a charge of retaliation after he allegedly posted the name of a confidential police informant on social media.
Andre Gerard Lee, 30, was also indicted on a drug charge Thursday by a Kanawha grand jury. Prosecutors say Lee posted copies of pages from an information packet containing the name of a confidential informant - who gave police information about Lee.
Lee allegedly obtained the packet from Tracie Jones, who prosecutors charged with selling drugs to the informant. Jones' attorney, Sarah Whitaker, a Kanawha public defender, gave a copy of the packet to Jones for review while the two met to discuss Jones' case. Whittaker, however, told Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman that she forgot to take back the information from Jones at the conclusion of their meeting.
Lee posted numerous photos of the packet with captions like "I'd be ashamed of myself," "exposed" and "cheap whore." The photos show the name of the informant, his address and some of the rules for informants and potential cash rewards for providing police with useful information.
The packet also lists Lee and Jones as "targets." Marijuana is written next to Lee's name, while prescription pills is written next to Jones.
Defendants have the right to inspect evidence prosecutors plan to use against them and to know who could possibly testify against them, but defense attorneys are barred from releasing to defendants the physical copies of any information relating to confidential informants.
Upon being notified that the confidential informant's name had been released on Dec. 10 online, Kaufman held a hearing Dec. 15, in which he removed Whitaker as Jones' attorney. Earlier this month, Kaufman held another hearing and ordered Whitaker to pay $50. Whitaker and her colleagues at the Kanawha Public Defender's Office agreed to no longer photocopy confidential informant packets.
Lee is set to be arraigned on the charges Feb. 9 in front of Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King.
In all, a Kanawha grand jury returned indictments against 58 defendants this week, Prosecuting Attorney Charles Miller announced.
An indictment is not a finding of fact. It means only that a grand jury has determined there's enough evidence to warrant a trial.
Arraignments will be held as follows:
n Judge Jennifer Bailey, Feb. 3, 9 a.m.
David Allen Eskew, 36, of St. Albans, fleeing in vehicle with reckless indifference to the safety of others and child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury and death.
n Judge Charles King, Feb. 9, 1:30 p.m.
David C. Alexander, 60, of Charleston, failure to register as a sex offender; Whitney Brooke Cochran, 27, of Marmet, child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury; James Ralph Cook III, 54, of Charleston, burglary; Jamie Ann Hall, 45, of Hurricane, grand larceny; Bambi Johnson, 42, of Dunbar, forgery and uttering; Andre Gerard Lee, 30, of Charleston, drug charges and retaliation; April R. Rucker, 26, of Poca, drug charges; Susan Marie Scott, 52, of St. Albans, fleeing while DUI, fleeing with reckless indifference to the safety of others, second offense DUI and driving while license revoked for DUI; Aniquejean D. Williamson, 27, of Charleston, drug charges.
n Judge Duke Bloom, Feb. 3, 9:30 a.m.
Thomas Newton Belcher, 65, of Charleston, failure to register as a sex offender; William Joseph Blake, 27, of Powellton, burglary and grand larceny; Angela Dawn Young, 35, of Powellton, burglary and grand larceny; Laurence Michael Brown, 30, of Dry Branch, burglary and petit larceny; John Robert Essex, 57, of Charleston, fourth-degree arson; Douglas Lee Landers, 35, of Point Pleasant, wanton endangerment; Heather Renee Marchal, 30, of Tad, forgery and uttering; Charles Mobley, 50, of Charleston, cultivation; Keith Grant Morris II, 27, of Winston Salem, North Carolina, drug charges; Franklin Lee Proctor II, 28, of London, drug charges; Victor Louis Rogers, 59, of Charleston, forgery and uttering and embezzlement; Rodney Dale Snead, 55, of Charleston, embezzlement.
n Judge Tod Kaufman, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.
William Edward Byers, 39, of Elkview, drug charges; Theresa D. Coles, 37, of Charleston, drug charges; Kristine Hackney, 33, of Charleston, drug charges; Edward Dewayne Jones, 43, of Charleston; drug charges.
n Judge James Stucky, Feb. 3, 10 a.m.
Stephen Cortez Belcher, 43, of Charleston, third offense domestic battery; Dana Willis Clark II, 32, of Chesapeake, second-degree robbery; Adam Harmon, 32, of Charleston, drug charges; Matthew Ryan Hunt, 29, of Belle, burglary, domestic assault, possession of stolen vehicle and fleeing in vehicle with reckless indifference to the safety of others; Thomas Leon Johnson, 42, of Chesapeake, burglary, second offense domestic battery, destruction of property and second offense violation of domestic violence protective order; Joshua Corey Longerbeam, 26, of Charleston, breaking and entering of an automobile, petit larceny, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device, breaking and entering and grand larceny; Thomas Edward Lucas, 47, of Nitro, drug charges; Melissa Higginbotham, 42, of Nitro, drug charges; Nancy Jane McCallister, 24, of Charleston, drug charges; Shawn Eldon Moore, 29, of Charleston, drug charges; Jason Daniel Payne, 33, of Alum Creek, grand larceny, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device and third offense shoplifting; Melissa Ann Mullins, 39, of Charleston, grand larceny; David Mullins, 41, of Charleston, grand larceny; Kimberly Ann Rhodes, 48, of Cross Lanes, first-degree robbery; Edward Lee Spaulding, 61, of Cedar Grove, drug charges; Lloyd Jennings Wilson Jr., 46, of Shrewsbury, grand larceny.
n Judge Joanna Tabit, Feb. 10, 2:30 p.m.
Ronnie Lee Adams Jr., 33, of St. Albans, wanton endangerment; Javen Demitrius Call, 20, of Charleston, drug charges, carrying a dangerous, deadly weapon and obstruction; Joseph Alan Campbell, 30, of Charleston, breaking and entering and destruction of property; Keith Eugene Estep, 32, of Charleston, breaking and entering, grand larceny and transferring and receiving stolen property; Dominicia Farris Harper, 30, of Montgomery, malicious wounding; Sean Wayne Means, 22, of Charleston, drug charges; Timothy Alan Ward, 33, of Buffalo, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Randall Douglas Woods, 60, of Charleston, wanton endangerment.
n Judge Carrie Webster, Feb. 17, 10 a.m.
James Michael Bostic, 24, of Charleston, grand larceny; Lakisha M. Hairston, 34, of Charleston, drug charges; Ryan Knight, 28, of Charleston, burglary; Tabitha Johnson, 24, of Charleston, burglary; Christopher Tyrone Perkins, 30, of Dunbar, drug charges; Dammien Jarrell Thomas, 35, of Charleston, third-offense shoplifting; Mariah Christy Young, 22, of Charleston, child concealment.