Judge withdraws charge against Ledger-Independent

A contempt citation issued against The Ledger-Independent in Maysville in December in connection with a Fleming County trial has been withdrawn.

Special Judge D. Michael Foellger issued the citation claiming Kelly Sudzina, a Ledger-Independent reporter, violated a court order handed down during the November trial of a Flemingsburg couple.

The couple was convicted of permitting an unlicensed operator, charges that resulted from an October 2000, vehicle accident in Fleming County. Two teens died in the wreck. The couple was convicted of allowing their 15-year-old son to drive the vehicle in which the other teens died.

A defense attorney claimed the court order was violated when Sudzina printed the full name of the juvenile in a story about the first half of the trial.

Ledger-Independent publisher Robert Hendrickson wrote the judge and informed him that references to the son, Chad Kirby, were attributed to the Kentucky State Police and not court records.

“Further, had we understood that you had indeed ordered the press not to use Chad Kirby’s name in any reporting of his parents’ trial, we would have objected to such an order and sought a hearing on the issue,”The Ledger-Independent reported in a story by news editor Mary Ann Kearns.

Foellger then informed Hendrickson that he was withdrawing the citation.

Although Hendrickson said he was glad to get the issue resolved, the paper had been ready to defend its actions.

“We were fully prepared to defend ourselves in court and has retained the services of an experienced media attorney in Louisville to prepare that defense,” the publisher said.

“I stand by the stories we wrote and the reporters and editors involved,” said Hendrickson.