OLDHAM DETECTIVE ALLEGEDLY FALSIFIED AFFIDAVITS

Jones Indicted, Denies Charge

An Oldham County sheriff's detective has been indicted on a charge
that he falsified affidavits in a drug arrest last year. Capt. Rob
Jones, 38, is charged with one misdemeanor count of false swearing.

He was indicted Thursday night and is restricted to administrative
duties pending the outcome of his case in Oldham District Court and
an internal investigation. He's been with the sheriff's office for
nearly three years. Jones denied any wrongdoing yesterday.

"Everything I put on my notes was accurate according to what those
people (witnesses in the drug case) told me," Jones said in an
interview. "I don't falsify documents."

The charge stems from one of several cases against Stephen Kasey of
La Grange, who was charged with possessing and trafficking in
marijuana and possessing drug paraphernalia. Kasey's attorney, John
Carter, asked Oldham District Judge Diana Wheeler to suppress
evidence in Kasey's trial, saying Jones falsely quoted witnesses on
affidavits used to get the search warrant that led to Kasey's arrest.
But Wheeler upheld the search warrant, saying the defense failed to
prove "deliberate falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth."

Jones' attorney, Tom Clay, said he doesn't see how the commonwealth's
attorney's office can reconcile the indictment with Wheeler's ruling.
And because the case against Jones will be handled in district court,
the county attorney's office will prosecute him -- the same attorneys
who argued in Kasey's suppression hearing that the detective's
affidavits were valid.

"It's certainly going to be an interesting scenario," Clay said.

Sheriff Steve Sparrow said he believes Jones. "We've not had any
problems with Captain Jones whatsoever."

This is the second time Jones has been accused of dishonesty on the
job, which Jones said makes him "an easy target."

He was fired from his former position as a drug investigator for
Kentucky State Police in Bowling Green in 2003 after being accused of
falsifying a public document and disobeying his superior officers.
But the state police trial board that fired him later reinstated him,
and Jones subsequently resigned. State police investigated the most
recent allegations against Jones, which Jones said he considers a
conflict of interest.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Berry Baxter said his office
routinely asks state police to investigate allegations against local
officers to remove any sense of bias.

Jones said his indictment is political, based on a rift between the
sheriff's office and the Oldham County Police Department. County
officials have said the "turf war" seems to center on whether the
county police would someday merge with the sheriff's office. Each
organization has accused the other of duplicating services.

County Police Chief Michael Griffin said he asked the commonwealth's
attorney's office to have Jones investigated, but he denied having
any influence in Jones' indictment. "About him (Jones) being an easy
target, I don't know about that," Griffin said. "The grand jury
probably doesn't care about that; they probably don't know Rob Jones from Adam."