Likens, 53, entered a plea of non-guilty before Judge E. Lee Schlaegel last Tuesday on plea day. Shortly after grand jury indictments are issued, the court holds a day in which all those accused of crimes are able to talk with their attorneys and then enter a guilty or not guilty plea.
The defendant is charged with 393 counts of child abuse, sexual assault by a parent or guardian and other charges. The indictments alleged that the series of assaults lead back over twenty-years and involved at least nine children in his Hollywood Branch foster home, along with an alleged assault on at least one of his grandchildren.
Likens’ new attorney is Bill Lester, who has a long history of criminal defense work in Boone County. In an interview with news media after the hearing, Lester said, “you all have heard what the state says Johnny Likens did, but when you hear the real truth behind the charges, the jury will change their minds.” Lester also told the judge he would be seeking a change of venue, which means his client wanted the trial to be held in a different county so that Likens could receive what he deemed a “fairer trial.”
Schlaegel said he would rule on Lester’s request next month.
A man charged in the negligent homicide of his daughter entered a non-guilty plea during plea day. Tommy Tomblin, was accused in the Feb. 13. death of his daughter, Demetria Moore Tomblin. Investigators said he was under the influence of drugs when his car crashed near Hunter’s Branch, on Route 17, nearly 1 year ago. In addition to the negligent homicide charge, Tomblin was also indicted on a single count of driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license. This count charges that he was driving that night, even though his license to drive a motor vehicle had been suspended on Sept. 20, 2002.
A man in his seventies entered not guilty pleas to a series of indictments in Boone County Circuit Court.
Atlee Griffis, of the Van area, was arrested last fall for the alleged Sept. 1 sexual assault on a young relative. Griffis was charged with three counts of sexual abuse by a parent or adult guardian, incest, and third degree sexual assault. His trial is set to begin sometime in April.
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