A grand jury Monday indicted an Athens County deputy sheriff on felony counts of perjury and evidence tampering.
Sgt. Jay Barrett, of Glouster, was indicted by the Athens County Grand Jury after hearing testimony from 10 witnesses Monday. Special prosecutor Rocky Coss of Highland County is leading the investigation. Coss' office sent out a release stating the perjury charge alleges Barrett gave false testimony in the preliminary hearing of Richard Barnhart in Athens County Municipal Court on Sept. 20, 2002.
Barnhart, 43, was arrested on charges of aggravated robbery and assault on a peace officer last year.
The tampering with evidence charge alleges Barrett presented a false document in connection with the prosecution of Barnhart in Athens County Court of Common Pleas.
Both charges against Barrett are punishable by as much as five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Athens County Sheriff Vern Castle said he is waiting to hear back from County Prosecutor C. David Warren before making any final decisions on Barrett's status. Even if Barrett continues to serve the office, Castle said he would only take non-emergency calls.
It's not fair to put him in this spot
Castle said. We need to get this resolved.
He did not discuss the allegations but said Barrett always has been a good officer.
Castle said he did not know about the investigation and had not been contacted by Ross until he testified on Monday. But he said he would leave everything in the hands of the court.
This is the first report of an incident like this since Castle took the position of Sheriff in 2001. He said it detracts from officers' ability to do their job because the public can take allegations against an officer out on the entire force, as proven Tuesday night when a resident got into verbal confrontation with an officer.
Barrett has an arraignment set for Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. However, an appointment of a Visiting Judge will be requested because both Judge Michael Ward and Judge Alan Goldsberry have recused themselves from the case.
Warren could not comment on the case and Coss' office declined a request for a phone interview. Barrett's attorney Robert Shostak could not be reached for comment. 17
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