OC SHERIFF'S OFFICE RESPONDS TO JOHN CARTER REMARKS TO COURIER JOURNAL

In a memorandum addressed to County Judge Duane Murner on September 23, 2010, Chief Oldham County Deputy Sheriff Bob Noble makes it clear that he does not agree with the remarks made by County Attorney candidate John Carter. The "watchdog" obtained the memorandum via a request filed under the Kentucky Open Records law. The memorandum details the shooting incident of May 10, 2009 that was reported earlier on this site. An earlier memorandum addressed the incident but did not go into detail about the incident. In that memorandum Deputy Sheriff John Schulte simply stated that Carter had been target shooting in his back yard and fired several rounds that struck his neighbor's home but was not charged in the incident because Carter and the neighbor agreed that Carter would pay for the damages.

In the September 22, 2010 edition of the Louisvile Courier Journal Carter said that the incident was brought up for political reasons and that his opponent, Democrat Stuart Ulferts, had used his role as an attorney working for the county to get the Sheriff's office to write a synopsis of the incident.In Chief Deputy Bob Noble's memorandum he states that Carter's remarks regarding the initiation of the first synopsis are a "complete misrepresentation of the facts surrrounding the report." Noble further stated that sometime in August (2010) the sheriff's office began receiving inquiries regarding the incident, including one from Stuart Ulferts. However, he stated that when Ulferts was first told that there was no report made of the incident because the issue had been settled, Ulferts made no further inquiry "nor did he ask for or in any way attempt to influence the Oldham Sheriff's Office to generate a report." Noble stated that he believed that the incident was going to become an issue.Thus,he instructed Deputy Schulte to submit a "brief" synopsis of the incident. Noble stated that Mr. Carter's campaign received the first copy of the report. Noble stated that had Mr. Carter chosen to respond to law enforcement honestly and in a civil manner, this would not have been an issue and as the perpetrator, he is solely responsible for any issues arising therefrom.

Carter claimed to the Courier Journal that he had not been drinking when he was shooting. Carter also stated to me that he had not been drinking even though a bottle of wine was present along with a pistol. The presence of the pistol and the wine were referenced in the memorandum prepared by Dupty Schulte. However, Shulte did not elaborate of Mr. Carter's reaction to the arrival of police on the scene. Schulte also did not the issue of Carter's sobriety.

Contrary to what Carter told me and the Courier Journal, the memorandum of Chief Deputy Noble states that when Deputy Schulte initially made contact with Carter after the shooting incident Carter lied by stating that he knew nothing about shots being fired. Noble further stated that, according to Deputy Schulte, Carter also appeared to be intoxicated. Also, according to the Noble memo, when Deputy Schulte went toward the pistol Carter attempted to physically block him. Due to a gun and alcohol being involved and the belligerence displayed by Mr. Carter he was handcuffed for safety reasons.

This latest memorandum certainly puts a different light on the issue. Guns and alcohol certainly do not mix. As I stated in a previous article I gave Mr. Carter an opportunity to respond to the first article. He declined to do so and said that the incident happened. However, this latest information certainly begs for an answer from Mr. Carter as his response to the inquiry made by the Sheriff's office cries for an explanation as well as does the involvement of the alcohol. Again, I offer Mr. Carter the opportunity to provide me with a response and I will post that response on this site.

I have posted Mr. Noble's memorandum, in its entirety, on this site for readers to review. You may view the memo by clicking here.

I am sure that Oldham countians have not heard the last of this issue. This is a very serious matter considering the office that Mr. Carter is seeking. As a matter of fact, I have been hearing from good sources that Galen Clark is giving strong consideration to entering the November 2, 2010 election as a "write-in" candidate for the Office of County Attorney.

Write-in candidates typically have a difficult time of winning in general elections due to the people who vote a straight party ticket. However, this seems to be the year of maverick voters who are not happy with business as usual. At the very least his candidacy would likely affect the outcome of the election. It could even influence the races for other offices if people decided to go away from the straight party vote in order to write in Galen Clark's name. Once they stray from the straight party vote they might decide to vote for other people who are not in their party.