Wednesday’s preliminary hearing for Bobby Wilson was continued for a week to give his new attorney a chance to get up to speed on the case involving alleged threats against Family Court Judge Bruce Petrie and four others.
Wilson, 56, of 7919 Forkland Road, was charged last week with five felony counts of terroristic threatening and intimidating a participant in a legal process after he allegely stated he had recently purchased ammunition and had bullets with the names of Petrie, who is presiding over Wilson’s divorce case, his estranged wife Connie Wilson, her attorney Ephraim Helton, Assistant County Attorney Lynne Coleman and Wilson’s daughter on them.
Wilson, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held without bond at the Boyle County Detention Center since his arrest Jan. 8.
Lebanon attorney Jude Hagan, who came aboard as Wilson’s attorney Wednesday, asked Boyle District Judge Jeff Dotson to set a bond for his client, suggesting Wilson could wear a GPS monitoring device and only travel from his home to work, court or the doctor’s office.
“He fully understands the serious nature of this matter” and would not be a flight risk, Hagan said of Wilson.
Dotson said he will set a bond but wants to wait until after a preliminary hearing, which he rescheduled for next Wednesday.
After learning of the alleged threat from Judge Petrie, Boyle County deputies and Kentucky State Police obtained a search warrant for Wilson’s home and executed it. Wilson surrendered peacefully, Sheriff Marty Elliott said. A 9 mm handgun and ammunition were among the things seized in the search, Elliott said.
Deputy Dustin Clem, the lead investigator on the case, was prepared to testify Wednesday and promised to return for next week’s hearing. Commonwealth’s Attorney Richie Bottoms was called in to prosecute the case in place of County Attorney Richard Campbell, in part because Campbell’s assistant, Coleman, is one of the targets of the alleged threats.
Bottoms said afterward that the case was continued because he and Hagan had not yet had a chance to discuss the charges in detail.
If Dotson finds probable cause after next week’s hearing, the case could still be presented for possible indictment during the next meeting of the grand jury, which is Jan. 30, Bottoms said.
Wilson, 56, of 7919 Forkland Road, was charged last week with five felony counts of terroristic threatening and intimidating a participant in a legal process after he allegely stated he had recently purchased ammunition and had bullets with the names of Petrie, who is presiding over Wilson’s divorce case, his estranged wife Connie Wilson, her attorney Ephraim Helton, Assistant County Attorney Lynne Coleman and Wilson’s daughter on them.
Wilson, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held without bond at the Boyle County Detention Center since his arrest Jan. 8.
Lebanon attorney Jude Hagan, who came aboard as Wilson’s attorney Wednesday, asked Boyle District Judge Jeff Dotson to set a bond for his client, suggesting Wilson could wear a GPS monitoring device and only travel from his home to work, court or the doctor’s office.
“He fully understands the serious nature of this matter” and would not be a flight risk, Hagan said of Wilson.
Dotson said he will set a bond but wants to wait until after a preliminary hearing, which he rescheduled for next Wednesday.
After learning of the alleged threat from Judge Petrie, Boyle County deputies and Kentucky State Police obtained a search warrant for Wilson’s home and executed it. Wilson surrendered peacefully, Sheriff Marty Elliott said. A 9 mm handgun and ammunition were among the things seized in the search, Elliott said.
Deputy Dustin Clem, the lead investigator on the case, was prepared to testify Wednesday and promised to return for next week’s hearing. Commonwealth’s Attorney Richie Bottoms was called in to prosecute the case in place of County Attorney Richard Campbell, in part because Campbell’s assistant, Coleman, is one of the targets of the alleged threats.
Bottoms said afterward that the case was continued because he and Hagan had not yet had a chance to discuss the charges in detail.
If Dotson finds probable cause after next week’s hearing, the case could still be presented for possible indictment during the next meeting of the grand jury, which is Jan. 30, Bottoms said.
