ERWIN – Kent Harris offered a direct response to defense attorney Jim Bowman’s question as to whether he stole $4,500 in Unicoi County funds.
“I didn’t steal one dime from Unicoi County,” Harris said.
The former Unicoi County sheriff took the stand to testify on the fourth day of his retrial in Unicoi County Criminal Court on a charge of theft over $1,000. It is alleged Harris ended up in possession of $4,500 in county money in September 2008 for two vehicles that were donated to the Unicoi County Sheriff’s Department.
Harris’ first trial on the charge ended in a mistrial in early August when that jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. A new jury for the retrial was set Monday.
As with the first trial, Harris’ defense contends the $4,500 was from the sale of the two vehicles, and that money, along with some of Harris’ own money, was to go toward the training of bloodhounds previously in possession of the sheriff’s department.
Tom and Lynn Colbaugh, who possessed the two vehicles and said they donated the two bloodhounds at the center of the case, have already testified they questioned why Harris gave them checks for the vehicles and asked them to return the money to him when the vehicles were donated to the county. They also testified they never had any conversations with Harris about using money from the sale of the cars to fund search and rescue training for the bloodhounds.
However, Harris testified Thursday that the Colbaughs knew exactly why they were given the checks and were aware of an arrangement that would see this money used for the training of the bloodhounds that were acquired when Harris bought the dogs with his money. Harris said Tom Colbaugh made a monetary donation to the county, which reimbursed Harris for expenses associated with purchasing the dogs.
The dogs failed to receive the planned training, leading Harris and Tom Colbaugh to discuss breeding one of the bloodhounds. Harris said their plan was to sell all the puppies except one, which would be kept for this training.
A personal account that held $1,750 from the sale of the puppies was opened, with those funds to go toward the puppy’s training, Harris testified. But once that account was closed and the money transferred to the county on the advice of a state auditor, Harris said he and Tom Colbaugh began discussing ways to raise money for the training.
Harris testified Tom Colbaugh eventually offered to give him one of the two cars owned by Lynn Colbaugh’s relatives, Edyth Price and the late Eugene Price. While Harris said he declined the request, he said the two, after multiple conversations, agreed the cars could be sold and the money from the sale used to train the bloodhound puppy. Harris told jurors that he and Tom Colbaugh agreed upon a $4,500 price for the purchase of the vehicles.
“He didn’t let the county have the cars,” Harris said. “The county bought the cars.”
Harris’ testimony also contradicted previous testimony provided by the Colbaughs that he directed the couple to cash the checks and bring the money directly back to him, also stating that a meeting between the three in the parking lot of the sheriff’s department did not occur.
Harris said he had suggested that Lynn Colbaugh, to whom the checks were issued, keep this money along with $1,000 he was offering to contribute, but she insisted Harris keep the money and place it in a safe in his office at the sheriff’s department.
“I would’ve had no problem if (Lynn Colbaugh) had took care of the money,” Harris said.
While Harris said the three bloodhounds did belong to the county, he said the $4,500 from the sale of the vehicles did not. He also said he disagreed with Wednesday testimony from Mark Treece, an auditor with the state Comptroller’s Office, that keeping the money in the safe would be a violation of state law.
“That was not the county’s money,” Harris said. “It was Lynn Colbaugh’s or Tom Colbaugh’s or Edyth Price’s.”
Harris said after it became evident that the puppy kept would not receive training and after the three bloodhounds were starting to become a financial strain on the county, he looked for and found a rescue in Powell that would take the dogs if he contributed the $5,500 saved for the training to construct shelters for the dogs. Harris said a check for this amount was given to the director of the rescue when she picked up the dogs.
“I don’t know of anything better that it could’ve been spent for than to take care of the dogs,” Harris said.
On cross examination from Assistant District Attorney General Dennis Brooks, Harris said he did not tell other county officials or those within the UCSD about the money in the safe because he “had no reason to.” He also denied scrambling to get rid of the money after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into the funds in November 2010.
“Sir, I took an oath when I sat down here today to tell the truth,” Harris said in response to Brooks’ questioning. “That money was put in that safe exactly when I told you it was. I have no reason to lie.”
The defense rested its case after Harris’ testimony, and the state called several other witnesses to the stand, including current Unicoi County Sheriff Mike Hensley and the department’s current Chief Investigator Ronnie Adkins. Adkins, who served as UCSD chief deputy after Harris was injured in an August 2010 fall from the roof of the Unicoi County Jail, testified that while he and Harris had discussed sending the bloodhounds to a rescue once they became a financial burden for the county, Harris did not discuss the $5,500 being kept in the safe.
Hensley, who served as chief deputy under Harris until Adkins was appointed, testified that around a week after Harris’ fall, the department received a call from the family of Josh Simpson, an inmate formerly held in Unicoi County who was set to be transferred to Morgan County. Hensley said Simpson’s family said an envelope containing money belonging to Simpson was at the UCSD and asked for the envelope to be returned. Hensley testified the safe in Harris’ office was opened, but no such envelope was inside. He also said he was not aware of any funds set aside for bloodhound training.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. today with closing statements from attorneys for both sides. Jury deliberation is set to begin following that.