The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1202802
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, Januar y 22, 2020 A- 5 Sutt-Alfred Emily Grace Alfred, of Dixon, Ky., and Jason Ry- an Sutt, of Petersburg, were united in marriage on Janu- ary 4, 2020, at the Belmont Mansion in Nashville, Tenn. The bride is the daughter of Mark and Raegina Scott, of Dixon, Ky., and Tim and Tammy Smith, of Dixon, Ky. She is the granddaughter of Jimmy and Carolyn Dacy, of Poole, Ky., and Louise Smith, of Madisonville, Ky. The groom is the son of the William and Dorothy Sutt, of Petersburg, and the grand- son of Clayton and Margie Sutt, of Indianapolis, and James and Dorothy Sulli- van, of Depauw, Ind. With This Ring... 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"It would be possible but very difficult." Indiana State Police Sgt. William Gadberry, who also operates Lawman Security, told the court Wright had worked for him for several years. "Whatever I needed done, he was my go-to guy for the schools," said Gad- berry. He added, "I trust him today. I would proba- bly would have doubted it if I hadn't heard it from him," said Gadberry about his re- action to Wright's charges. "Totally out of character," said Gadberry. When asked what sen- tence Wright should receive, Gadberry said, "I think he should be put on probation. If he violates terms of it, he should serve the sentence. That is how it is supposed to work," said Gadberry. Prosecutor Darrin Mc- Donald asked Gadberry if over his career he had seen a change in the public's per- ception of police. Gadberry said he had no- ticed it, but added, "We are pretty fortunate here. It is better here than in other places." Pike County Sheriff's Deputy Jared Simmons was called by the prosecution. He said he was the arrest- ing officer in all three cases affected by Wright's theft. McDonald asked Sim- mons if he had seen a change in people's perception of po- lice during his six years as an officer. "Definitely." "It makes you feel bad," said Simmons about when he hears people's comments about police. State Police Det. Greg Ashby said he has been in- vestigating police miscon- duct cases since 2017. He said he has seen police be more open with him about misdeeds of their fellow of- ficers. "I think they are more forthcoming because they don't want to make it look like everyone is involved." He said the change in the public's attitude toward po- lice had changed dramat- ically since he started 23 years ago. "We can't find people to be police officers." A fter all the testimo- ny, Judge Sobecki asked Wright if he would like to make a statement. He was told it could not be cross- examined. "I feel my actions have inconvenienced so ma- ny I will be concise," said Wright. "I'm guilty. I have offered no excuses for my action. I understand my ac- tions have contributed to public distrust. I expressed my remorse and shame. It seems so small compared to amount of the trouble I have caused. My actions do not accurately show who I am. I modeled my life after my father." He said his father had a saying on which he had based his life. "Each day do all the good you can in all the ways you can and for as long as you can. Those weren't just a mantra to oth- ers for him. He did that." "I wanted to be just like him. A fter 911, I enlisted in the Navy. I knew I wasn't a war fighter but I wanted to do my part. Then when my time ended I served my com- munity." He said he worked as a jailer and then as a po- lice officer. "Because of my actions I lost the trust of the community. But I retained the love and respect of my family. The last 10 months have been the most chal- lenging of my life." "I come to you asking for leniency. I don't know exact- ly what that looks like," said Wright. He talked about being a special needs family. "We must prepare and plan to make ready ourselves for ev- erything this diagnosis can bring to our child. They are challenging but bring an un- measurable amount of joy," said Wright. He added if he were sen- tenced to serve jail time it would take a care provider away from his child. Wright's attorney then spoke with his recommen- dation on sentencing. "Scott is an individual who has done a lot of good. He served his country and his community. And yes, he lost his honor. This is something he didn't think he would be faced with. His lack of ability to ask for help may have led to this," said attorney Mark Foster. "We hear everyday from prosecutors, this person de- serves a harsh sentence for his prior criminal history. In this case we have exactly the opposite. We have a person who has a long history of do- ing good," said Foster. He said the probation de- partment pre-sentence re- port didn't find any agrava- tors and found four mitiga- tors. Foster said jail time would be an extreme hardship. He asked for a sentence of pro- bation with a reasonable amount of community ser- vice. McDonald in his closing remarks said instead of fo- cusing on Wright they need- ed to think about the posi- tion Wright's actions put Deputy Simmons in. He said Simmons put himself at risk in these cases and then they were dismissed because the evidence was tampered with. He also took issue with no aggravators being found. He argued there were two: that he was in a position of trust and police officers are held to a higher standard of conduct than regular citi- zens, and he swore an oath to that. The second was he said when he was first called about the missing money, he didn't immediately admit the theft. McDonald said his actions contributed to public distrust of police. McDonald admitted, "Scott had a lot to say for himself as a human being. Many of us have seen how he treats his kids. It is re- markable. He had done a lot of good and he is need- ed desperately. That is what hurts so much," said Mc- Donald. He added, "To take him away from his family for the whole week. The hardship of that probably does meet the undue standard," said Mc- Donald. However he added, "I would tell the court any- thing less than the adviso- ry sentence would depreci- ate the crime." McDonald suggested Wright serve weekends in the Pike County Jail. "Some- thing that purports to say that no matter who you are, someone who is a police offi- cer, judge or attorney is held to a high standard," said Mc- Donald. Judge Sobecki took a few minutes recess and when he returned to the bench he stated, "Quite frankly I can't say I disagree with anything that has been said today." He said, "Day in and day out there are theft cases treated as misdemeanors (instead of felonies), but day in and day out they don't in- volve police officers taking money out of a police evi- dence locker." He added that no per- sons were harmed by the theft and he thought Wright would respond well to proba- tion and noted Wright volun- tarily made restitution in the case. He added, "Sentences are supposed to rehabilitative in nature, but also have a puni- tive aspect to them as well." He said Wright had talked about losing or giving away his honor. "I'm not sure I agree with that. But I know when you lose someone's trust you want to make that back right now. You want to make this right with your family. But you earn trust. When you joined the Na- vy they didn't put you in charge of anything until they trained you. You had to earn your responsibilities. But you have to earn your trust back with everyone. Regardless of all your good qualities, you hurt people. It hard for people to trust you when they have been hurt," said Judge Sobecki. He then pronounced the sentence of one year's pro- bation and three weekends in jail, plus 60 hours of com- munity service. "Weekends in jail aren't punishment. I think I'm do- ing this because the public deserved at least that. And to be brutally honest with you, I think you need that so you can get on with your life and feel like you have paid something for this. To the extent you can say 'I did the time my judge told me to do because I messed up.'" "You have a way of earn- ing some trust back because day after day, while you are serving your community, while you are following your rules of probation your are earning trust." Continued from page 1 WRIGHT Meeting to discuss transition to vote centers Jan. 30 A public meeting to dis- cuss the county's transition from traditional polling plac- es for voting to vote center has been scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30 at the Pike County Courthouse auditorium. County Clerk Lana Griffith her office and the county Election Board has spent the last few months researching the process of transitioning Pike County to a Vote Center County versus the traditional precinct vot- ing model that is currently being used. The Commis- sioners and County Coun- cil of Pike County has ap- proved: Pike County to adopt the vote center model; to be designated as a vote cen- ter County and for local Election Board to draft a vote center plan, which will take effect upon unanimous vote of the County Election Board, and have the plan filed properly with the Indi- ana Election Division. "We are very excited about the transition to vote centers. The primary bene- fits of this transition would be to significantly reduce Election Day costs, give reg- istered voters the opportu- nity to vote at a more con- venient polling location and utilizing experienced poll workers in a more efficient manner," said Clerk Lana Griffith. She said people who can't attend the meeting can fill out a survey and return it to her office by Monday, Feb- ruary 3. "We welcome any and all public comments, ideas, questions and thoughts on this exciting change for the future of voting in Pike County," said Griffith.