In one case, the estate of the late Philip Jontz Rhoades, through Christy L. Rhoades, has a wrongful death action pending against a Marion County MP. The county commission and the sheriff’s office were initially named as defendants but were left out of the case.

Rhoades was shot dead by the MP during a police chase on August 2, 2017 in the vicinity of Mannington. The member has already been cleared of any criminal act.

The lawsuit brought by Ryan Umina of Umina Legal PLLC of Morgantown and Benjamin Hogan of Bailey & Glasser LLP argues that the MP used excessive force. Lawyers Tiffany Durst and Nathan Carroll of Pullin Fowler Flanagan Brown & Poe PLLC in Morgantown are contesting this.

At a pre-trial conference, a central question was about what the deputy had previously said to a state soldier, what he said during a deposition and what he said at the booth on Monday. . The question was whether, when he pulled the trigger, the deputy knew he was shooting Rhoades, who was wanted on several different allegations at the time. Kleeh sealed part of the proceedings relating to this matter.

In the other case, which is also before Kleeh, Randall Clay Ford II, through attorneys Bryan Edwards and C. Anthony Gutta III of Cranston & Edwards in Morgantown, brought an action against the County Commission and an MP .

Ford was shot twice at a roadblock near Carolina. He was initially paralyzed, but has now regained some mobility in his lower body, being able to stand and move using forearm crutches, according to Edwards. Doctors don’t believe Ford will regain more mobility, Edwards said.

This lawsuit also alleges excessive force, as Carroll and Durst again dispute.

The member has already been cleared of any criminal act.

One issue that was raised on Monday: Will Ford’s lawyers decide to seek damages from Ford for lost wages as a coal miner. If they do, it could pave the way for some evidence to be introduced.

The Rhoades civil case is the first to be tried, starting April 6. The Ford civil case is expected to follow with a start date of April 13.

Kleeh, on the federal bench for about two and a half years, moved both hearings forward with eagerness, showing a mastery of the law in both cases and making firm decisions with the kind of diligence one did not have. seen earlier in his judicial career.

– Brian Cutright, 41, of Morgantown, was sentenced to 46 months in prison and 3 years on supervised release by Kleeh for illegal possession of a firearm.

Cutright illegally owned one .25 caliber pistol, one .45 caliber pistol, two .22 caliber rifles, one .40 S&W rifle and two 12 caliber shotguns as of July 2018 in Monongalia County, according to the U.S. prosecutor. Acting Randolph Bernard. Cutright was not allowed to own firearms as an illegal methamphetamine user, the government alleged.

US Assistant Prosecutor Zelda Wesley has been prosecuted. The ATF, the Greater Harrison Drugs and Violent Crime Task Force and the Mon Metro Drugs and Violent Crime Task Force have investigated.

–Thomas Joe Phares II, 30, of Clarksburg, has been charged with eight counts of felony access device fraud by Detective Sgt. Bill Swiger.

According to Swiger, Phares illegally used a stolen debit card: three times on March 9 at the Mountaineer Mart, 621 Buckhannon Ave .; and twice on March 13 and three times on March 14 at the Kompak store, 1119 E. Main St.

Harrison magistrate, Warren “Gizzy” Davis, set the bond at $ 20,000.

– Quinn Martin Lyons, 47, of Nutter Fort, has been charged with the felony of false evidence, forgery, etc., title and registration.

During a traffic stop Monday at the southbound Interstate 79 rest area in Bridgeport, Lyons had a registration on a Jeep Liberty that did not belong to that vehicle, the patrol officer alleged by Bridgeport Bladen Smart.

Lyons was released on $ 2,500 bail after an initial appearance before Davis.

– Amy Lynn Cain, 43, of Clarksburg, has been charged with a false crime by Clarksburg Patrol Officer Zach Iseli.

On June 11, Cain coined another woman’s name on a shoplifting quote, Iseli alleged.