John Douglas

A new trial was set for early 2008 for Denver A. Youngblood after Circuit Judge Gina Groh refused to accept a plea bargain last week in a sexual assault case from 2000.

(Reprinted from The Morgan Messenger, May 24, 2000)

Part Two

Wednesday, August 22, 2007.

(Reprinted from The Morgan Messenger, May 24, 2000)

Part One

Fifteen War Memorial Hospital employees are battling the hospital over a $675,000 surplus that has accumulated in a defined benefits pension plan adopted in 1972 to provide retirement benefits.

They filed a lawsuit in Morgan County Circuit Court on Tuesday, June 26, seeking control of the money.

The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned two Morgan County Circuit Court convictions in the last two months and ordered new trials for the defendants.

By a narrow 3-2 ruling in each case, a majority of State Supreme Court justices called for new trials for Denver A. Youngblood, Jr. and Brian Daniel Murray.

The West Virginia Supreme Court last week overturned the conviction of Brian Daniel Murray for failing to render aid at an auto accident, and ordered a new trial for Murray.

The Town of Bath's water superintendent was arrested and charged with delivery of a controlled substance, a felony, at midday on Monday, May 21.

Kevin R. Hancock, 44, of McCumbee Lane, Berkeley Springs, was arrested after Morgan County Sheriff's deputies chased him in a town vehicle through downtown Berkeley Springs.

In a 3-2 ruling, the West Virginia Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Denver A. Youngblood, Jr.

Youngblood, now 34, was convicted in 2003 of two counts of sexually assaulting a young woman, two counts of brandishing a firearm and one count of indecent exposure in 2000. He is presently serving a 26-to-56 year prison sentence for those crimes.

An impassioned plea from a convicted felon may have convinced Circuit Judge David Sanders not to send the man to prison for life last week.

Steven Wayne Funt, 28, of Berkeley Springs had been facing a life sentence as a three-time loser when he went before the judge on Thursday, April 26.