News
Special Grand Jury Expected To Meet Again On Tuesday
By: Steve Robb | Athens Messenger
Posted on:
An Athens County special grand jury called by the Ohio Attorney General's Office to consider allegations involving Sheriff Patrick Kelly is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, according to sources.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, would not confirm it on Friday.
Tierney said the office does not confirm a specific date that a grand jury is meeting.
"We can only confirm that the grand jury is active and ongoing," Tierney said.
The attorney general's office has not said what the grand jury is considering, although it's known that the Ohio Attorney General's Office has investigated matters involving Kelly, including matters relating to audit findings against Kelly, his alleged disposal of county records and scrap and an assault complaint in which Kelly was accused of stuffing a flier into a man's shirt pocket.
Kelly appeared briefly before the grand jury in June, and later told The Messenger he had been read his Miranda rights and, on the advice of an attorney, declined to answer questions.
County Commissioner Lenny Eliason, who is chairman of the Athens County Records Commission, confirmed he was asked questions relating to records disposal.
Kelly has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and said the investigation is politically motivated.
The grand jury met for two consecutive days in June, with several witnesses testifying.
On the second day, agents of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation executed search wants at Kelly's home at the sheriff's office.
Agents searched those same locations in December, and, according to Kelly, made copies of the same computer hard drives that they copied in June.
Two sources told The Messenger that a BCI agent was in Athens on Thursday, but it is not known for what reason.
The grand jury met for a third time in June, and again on Sept. 10. A BCI forensic accountant appeared before the grand jury in September.