Scudder Trial Postponed, Moved To Ripley County

Adam Huening

January 06, 2009 12:40 pm

— The trial for former Greensburg Police Officer David Scudder was set to begin Monday, however, special circumstances have postponed his day in court. Decatur County Circuit Judge John Westhafer had orginially began the trial, but made a request for a special judge to be assigned to the case because he “was quite familar with” Scudder and didn’t want any possibility of accusations of impropriety to cloud the case. The request was accepted by Judge Carl Taul of Ripley County Circuit Court. This was a natural move, Westhafer noted, because Ripley County Prosecutor Rick Hertel is already handling the case.
The special circumstances postponed the proceedings set for Monday. A pre-trial conference is set for 10 a.m. Feb. 2 in the Ripley County Courthouse in Versailles. The conference will be held to ensure Scudder has counsel and he understands the charges against him, according to an employee in the office of the Ripley County Circuit Court. Westhafer originally assigned Mark Jones of Batesville to represent Scudder, who claimed he could not afford an attorney, when he intially charged the former officer in September.
Scudder faces two charges - theft and official misconduct, both Class D felonies - allegedly stemming from a June investigation into a phony Steve Austin and his promoter taking money for bogus autographs. Scudder is accused of taking $154 from the promoter while he was in uniform and never placing the money in evidence as part of the investigation. He resigned from the department shortly after the Indiana State Police began its investigation into the matter.
Westhafer said moving the proceedings to another location under these special circumstances is not unheard of and helps the judge accomodate the case to his schedule. While it is still a Decatur County criminal case, all of the proceedings and pre-trial hearings can be held outside the county. The trial can be held there as well if all parties agree, he noted.

Additional information was provided by Joe Hornaday.