MURRAY – When Danny Dale was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, among other things, in 2019, it drew little attention. Years later, his return to Calloway Circuit Court for probation violations has reignited scrutiny over former Judge James “Jamie” Jameson’s handling of cases and the lasting impact of his rulings.
Dale, 39, of Murray, was arrested on Feb. 8 in Massac County, Illinois, on domestic violence and resisting arrest charges, according to the supervision violation report. While in custody, he was served a warrant issued by Calloway Circuit Court in October 2022 for violating his probation.
On February 17, he appeared for a probation revocation hearing, making his first appearance before Calloway Circuit Judge Andrea Moore. The judge appointed a public defender to represent Dale and continued the hearing to March 17 to allow him time to speak with counsel. As he was being escorted from the courtroom by court security officers, he had an outburst which resulted in him being charged with criminal contempt and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
It was not the first time a Calloway Circuit Court judge held Dale in contempt. Moore’s predecessor, Jameson, who was on the bench from Dale’s arraignment in 2019 through his sentencing in September 2021, also charged Dale with contempt of court following multiple outbursts during his sentencing hearing.
Jameson made headlines in 2022 when, in the midst of his bid for reelection, the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC) initiated formal proceedings against him, ultimately charging him with seven counts of misconduct, which included allegations of mismanaging his courtroom, engaging in acts of retaliation and deviating from acceptable standards of judicial conduct. That November, the JCC found Jameson guilty on all counts and removed him from the bench.
A video of Dale’s sentencing hearing was one of four shown to the JCC panel at Jameson’s temporary suspension hearing in August 2022. The videos were offered as examples of Jameson’s abuse of contempt powers.
“Judge Jameson abused his contempt power and exhibited a complete lack of patience and dignity by threatening to find or by actually holding [defendants and others] in contempt,” the JCC wrote, referring to the videos, in its supplemental findings of fact, conclusions of law and order. “Compared to the behavior the Canons demand of judges, the egregiousness of Judge Jameson’s conduct shocks the Commission’s collective conscience. It is difficult to say which of the examples in this record is the more egregious abuse of the contempt powers.”
Calloway Circuit Court records indicate that Jameson previously instructed Dale, who was out on bond at the time, to begin counseling to address anger management issues prior to his sentencing hearing, but on the day of sentencing, he had yet to see a mental health provider.
Jameson elaborated on the circumstances behind Dale’s sentencing hearing in the appellant brief he filed when he appealed JCC’s decision to the Kentucky Supreme Court, who, ultimately, affirmed JCC’s ruling.
“Mr. Dale refused to accept the ruling of the Court based on his failure to comply with instructions the court had given him during a previous court appearance,” the brief stated. “Something you do not see on the video is the fact that Mr. Dale ran away from the podium during his sentencing in an attempt to avoid going to jail.”
Circuit court records verify that, at some point during the hearing, Dale ran out of the courtroom and exited the courthouse, damaging the front door in the process. Court security officers chased after Dale and deployed a taser in order to apprehend him. When officers brought Dale back into the courtroom, Jameson held him in contempt.
At that point, Dale attempted to engage the judge in an argument, according to Jameson’s brief. “He yelled and was warned he could be held in contempt. He then began to call Judge Jameson ‘bitch’ and told the Judge ‘[f–] you’ and began a lengthy improper rant where he even threatened the Judge.”
The docket sheet from that hearing included a note that said, “After being brought back to courtroom, defendant cursed judge and said he would do his time on his head and come back and ‘F’ up our community again,” adding Jameson imposed two additional contempt charges for that behavior.
Jameson sentenced Dale to probation for 25 months with a 300-day alternative sentence in one case, consecutive to a 12-month sentence in his other case plus three consecutive 180-day sentences, one for each of the contempt charges Dale received at his sentencing hearing, with no credit for time served, which translated to more than three years of incarceration.
“He did not want to be probated by Judge Jameson at the time,” said Department of Public Advocacy Murray Trial Office Directing Attorney Cheri Riedel at Monday’s hearing, noting that Jameson’s actions during Dale’s sentencing were among the allegations in the misconduct proceedings brought against Jameson by the JCC. “I believe that Judge Jameson did it vindictively because of some behavior that Mr. Dale had in court. I don’t think it’s a secret that Mr. Dale is a very emotional person and is a little prone to outbursts in the courtroom.”
In December 2021, Jameson did amend the sentences on two of the contempt charges to run concurrently, but he also noted in his order, “The granting of this motion comes with an attached warning. Should Defendant participate in any similar conduct that brings this Court into disrepute, the Court will not show the same sort of mercy.”
When Jameson was temporarily removed from the bench by the JCC in August 2022, a special judge, former Supreme Court Justice David Buckingham, was appointed to fill his seat. Within a month, Buckingham amended Dale’s sentence, reaffirming the 12-month sentence but reducing the sentences on the contempt charges to a total of 180 days, and he gave Dale credit for the 45 days he served prior to his sentencing.
Dale was released from custody on Oct. 3, 2022; however, he did not follow instructions to contact probation and parole. His probation was revoked and a warrant issued the following week.
Last month, during his first probation revocation hearing, Dale contended he had already been proven innocent, that Buckingham “let (him) out” and that the JCC made a ruling related to his contempt charges. Moore advised that he needed counsel before the hearing could proceed. Before leaving the podium, Dale asked Moore to consider reducing his bond.
“I’ve never missed a court date; I’m not a flight risk; and I would like to be outside,” he said. “I’ve served my time. So, right now, I’m really a hostage.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney James Burkeen argued the bond should remain the same, noting Dale’s probation violations include absconding and being charged with a misdemeanor in another state. Moore agreed and advised the bond would remain the same for the time being, but she stated that if, after speaking with his attorney, Dale wanted to revisit the issue, she would consider it at the next hearing.
“That’s bullshit, though,” Dale exclaimed. “I’ve literally served out my time.”
Moore reiterated he should speak to his attorney and that she would see him again on March 17. Before exiting the courtroom, Dale turned back and said, “Burkeen, you a bitch, bro.”
Officers quickly secured Dale in the holding room. Counsel immediately approached the bench, and after a brief consultation, Moore excused herself from the courtroom, a stark contrast to the last time a judge held Dale in contempt. After approximately 10 minutes, Moore returned and re-called Dale.
“Mr. Dale, if you could, approach the podium,” Moore said. “Your behavior here in the courtroom a while ago was inappropriate. You called Mr. Burkeen an offensive name. I believe you are in direct criminal contempt of this court by your behavior. I am going to give you 30 days due to that behavior here in court. In this court, there’s an appropriate way to act, and that’s not the way to act.”
On Monday, having served the 30-day sentence imposed by Moore, Dale returned to court for his probation revocation hearing.
Riedel presented her argument first. “Mr. Dale’s procedural history in this case is long and confusing. Let’s just cut to the chase. He’s got 465 days of jail credit as of today. He was basically sentenced to probation in this matter when he didn’t ask for it. … (When) he was released, I don’t believe he signed the conditions of probation at the time, and I believe they were offered to him sometime before his release.”
“You Honor, I’m not asking the court to drop a conviction at this time,” Riedel said. Noting that it took two years to serve the warrant, she added, “He went quite some time before getting on the radar of any kind of law enforcement without, obviously, having any violations of the law. I believe at this point in time – he has served the 30 days for contempt from the last time he was here in court – and so I’m asking the court … to call it square at this time and say that he’s done with his sentence.”
“As much as I’d love to do that, I just simply cannot,” Burkeen said in rebuttal. “I understand that Mr. Dale is a pretty easy-going, likeable guy as long as he’s getting his way, and then we’ve seen on multiple occasions – Your Honor saw it the last time we were in court, and previous judges have seen it – when things don’t go his way, he reacts very, very poorly, out of the realm of poorly.”
In more than 15 years of practicing law and almost eight years of prosecuting, Burkeen elaborated, Dale is the only person he has encountered who had to be apprehended after fleeing the courtroom and, when brought back to the courtroom, “went on a profanity-filled tirade with the judge.”
Burkeen argued that Dale had, in fact, asked to be probated and that he was given time before sentencing to seek treatment with a mental health provider, but when he returned for sentencing, he did not have satisfactory proof of his efforts.
“He didn’t want to be probated once he found out what the court was going to do him,” Burkeen continued. “He did want to be probated, and it was probated by the court. There is an order of probation in the file. He went down, and he served his county sentence, … and when it came time to be released from jail on probation, I mean, he just walked out of the building.”
Burkeen did acknowledge that Dale had not gotten in trouble with law enforcement for a couple of years but added that was not much of a consolation given that, when he was apprehended, it was because he was charged with new crimes.
“I understand he’s done a lot of time,” Burkeen concluded, “but that’s because of his actions in this courtroom on multiple occasions. So, Your Honor, I don’t wish him ill will. I don’t want to see him in jail forever, and he’s not going to be in jail forever. This is an absconding case, and I’d ask the court to revoke his probation.”
“Mr. Burkeen, Mr. Dale and Ms. Riedel, it sounds like this case, before I came on, was pretty convoluted,” Moore said. She then advised that the probation order in the file was not signed, noting that, while that may have simply been the result of procedural changes during COVID, it was, nonetheless, a cause of concern for her. “I believe that I am leaning towards what Ms. Riedel suggested here today – call it square.”
After Dale stipulated to the violations, namely that he failed to report to probation and parole upon his release from jail, absconded, left the state without permission and was arrested on a new misdemeanor charge, Moore sanctioned him to time served plus 24 months of supervised probation.
Editor’s note: All source material used for this story was independently gathered by The Murray Sentinel.
