JUDGE REVOKES NUTT'S BOND

ATHENS - A Henderson County district judge Thursday revoked the bond of a
former narcotics investigator turned "sophisticated drug user" after
officials said he repeatedly failed drug tests and allegedly threatened to
kill his girlfriend.

Bryan Ray Nutt, 35, Murchison, was ordered by 3rd District Court Judge Jim
Parsons to the Henderson County Jail immediately. Parsons said he is to be
held without bond pending his trials.

"You've become that which you swore to abhor," Parsons told the former law
enforcer. "You've become that which you despised."

Nutt has been indicted for allegedly obtaining prescription drugs by fraud
and retaliation on a police officer.

Parsons told Nutt it was hard for him to hear his case because he knew him
while he was a Henderson County sheriff's narcotics investigator and he knew
his family, including his father, Ray Nutt, investigator for the Henderson
County district attorney.

"I think the law has cut him some additional slack because of who he was
before he went on this downward spiral," Parsons said.

Dr. John Laseter, who works for Accu-Chem Laboratories in Richardson,
testified that Nutt tested positive for cocaine seven times in May and June.
He tested positive 19 times for drugs also including methamphetamine,
D-form, hydromorphone and hydrocodone.

Methamphetamines come in two different forms: L and D, he said. The L-form
can be found in over-the-counter drugs such as inhalants and the D-form is
available by prescription or can be made illegally in home labs.

Of the three times Nutt recently tested negative during his weekly drug
tests, Laseter said low levels of creatinine, a by-product of human
excretion, were found twice.

This could be caused by drinking large amounts of water to flush illegal
substances out of a person's system, he said.

On June 9, the concentration of cocaine in Nutt's system was 28,000
nanograms per milliliter, Laseter said. It takes only 150 nanograms per
milliliter to be considered positive.

"When you see a person excreting levels like this, it can be dangerous," he
said.

Hydrocodone is a prescription-only drug that metabolizes into hydromorphone,
which could be the reason why both were found in his system, the doctor
testified.

Laseter has tested more than 2 million specimens in his 10-year career.

He said it appears Nutt is addicted to drugs in a "sophisticated way"
because unlike a typical novice drug user, he took combinations of drugs to
extend his high.

Hydrocodone can "make the high from cocaine last much longer - it's a timing
phenomenon," he said. "His addiction is clear. The question is what to do
about it."

Malakoff police officer Carey James testified he was called out Aug. 10 to a
disturbance at the home of Donna L. Bennett, Nutt's former girlfriend whom
he lived with at the time.

At about 9:30 p.m., James arrived at 525 Malibu St. in Malakoff, where he
found Ms. Bennett, 24, outside crying. She claimed her foot and head were
hurt and she had red marks around her neck from a physical altercation with
Nutt, the officer reported. At first she did not want to make a written
statement because she said she was afraid of Nutt and his family, he
testified.

James said Bennett was transported to the hospital after she later became
ill. There were no witnesses to the alleged altercation. Nutt was not at the
residence when James arrived, and was never interviewed by police.

Ms. Bennett testified her four-to five-year relationship with Nutt ended
after that night, and that no contact had been made between the two since.
She said she signed an affidavit of non-prosecution because she "just wanted
to be left alone."

Ms. Bennett said Nutt had never physically harmed her before and the two had
been drinking before the fight. She said she kicked him in the head and Nutt
threatened to kill her during the assault.

She said she was with Nutt when he wrote a threatening note to Athens police
officer James Cook and left it on the windshield of his marked police
cruiser April 11.

Nutt was indicted in July for the incident and charged with retaliation for
threatening to harm Cook, who investigated him for illegally obtaining
prescription drugs.

In May, Nutt's $1,000 personal recognizance bond was revoked by Parsons and
reset with a $5,000 surety bond after at least eight urinalysis tests came
back positive for drugs such as methadone, methamphetamine and hydrocodone.

Ty Choate, director of the Henderson County Adult Probation Department,
testified he took over Nutt's case from probation officer Steve Jeffus, who
testified at the first hearing.

He said Jeffus felt intimidated by Nutt and he took over the case because he
wanted to take the pressure off of his department and prevent any conflict
of interest. Choate has been with the department for six years and has been
adult probation director since January.

Choate said because Nutt repeatedly failed drug tests and had been indicted
for retaliation, his discovery of the report of possible physical violence
to Ms. Bennett made him think it necessary to call Nutt's actions to the
court's attention.

"In my opinion he is addicted," Choate testified. "And he is unable or
unwilling to seek help and change his ways for whatever reason.

"Other than chaining him to a fence, I don't see anything else we can do
except long-term treatment."

Nutt was given a substance abuse evaluation test as ordered by Parsons at
the first bond revocation hearing. The results showed Nutt has a problem
with substance abuse but until he is tried and on probation, he could not
recommend a treatment center, Choate said.

"He (Nutt) has spun completely out of control," Anderson County District
Attorney Doug Lowe told the judge. Lowe is acting as special prosecutor in
the case because of Nutt's Henderson County ties.

Defense attorney John Youngblood said he felt strongly about the fact that
Nutt had no history of violence, and asked the judge to focus on the
urinalysis tests and needed treatment.

"I think he ought to have services," Parsons said. "I don't think it's
voluntary at this point."

Although Youngblood asked the judge to only consider the drug tests, Parsons
said he took into account the pending case of threatening a police officer
and his alleged violence when making his decision to revoke his bond.

Nutt was suspended with pay from August until his resignation in December.

He was a 12-year veteran with the sheriff's department and was a highly
decorated officer with many awards. He also had prior experience with the
Athens Police Department.

Nutt has been charged with two third-degree felonies and faces two to 10
years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine each for his charge of prescription
fraud and retaliation.

No date has been set for the trials.