We noted, on September 2nd, the case of Eyvette Hunter, 52, a nurse accused of deliberately killing a 97-year-old patient because he was agitated and difficult. Miss Hunter just had her bail reduced and trial scheduled . . . for next June.
Eyvette Hunter, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.
Bond reduced for Lexington nurse accused of murder. Trial date set for June 2023
by Taylor Six | Thursday, September 29, 2022 | 5:19 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 30, 2022 | 7:30 PM EDT
Fayette Circuit Court Judge Thomas Travis has granted a $50,000 bond reduction for a former Lexington nurse accused of killing a man through an unauthorized injection.
Eyvette Hunter, 52, was indicted on one charge of murder and arrested on Aug. 23, according to court records. Police say Hunter’s maltreatment caused the death of James Morris, a 97-year-old patient who died at Baptist Health Lexington on May 5.
On Thursday afternoon, she appeared in court after her attorney filed a motion to lower her bond, which was set at $100,000. Hunter’s attorney, Daniel Whitley, successfully requested that the bond be reduced 50% to $50,000 full cash, according to court testimony.
Mr Whitley argued before the judge that the previous bail was simply beyond the means of the family, while the prosecutors, Aubrey McGuire and Traci Caneer, were strongly opposed, and stated than Miss Hunter’s bail should be increased, not reduced. Miss Hunter, if her family make bail, will not be required to wear an ankle monitor, given that she has no past criminal record, and is a low flight risk.
Herald-Leader reporter Taylor Six, from her Twitter biography.
Whitley also said that before the commonwealth indicted Hunter for murder, they neglected to consult with a medical examiner, nor did they seek to do any toxicology to determine the levels of Ativan, or any other substance, in his system at the time of death.
The commonwealth has yet to tender any discovery from any witness stating that the alleged victim died due to the use of Ativan, Whitley said in court documents.
A trial date was set for June 12 and is scheduled to last four days.
Now, what does this mean? Does the prosecution not already have enough evidence put together? Did the defense request this extreme delay? The article states, “The commonwealth has yet to tender any discovery from any witness stating that the alleged victim died due to the use of Ativan,” according to the defense. Does this mean that the prosecution is not yet ready to proceed? If the defense attorney’s statement is accurate — and it was apparently made to the judge — then the prosecution has not given to the defense the required material for the defense to prepare.
I have to ask: what purpose is served by scheduling a trial 8½ months in the future? The defendant has already spent more than a month behind bars, and, if despite the bail reduction, she can’t make bail, would wind up spending 294 days, almost ten months, in jail for a crime of which she has been accused but not convicted? The prosecution wanted Miss Hunter’s bail not only not decreased, but increased, because the Commonwealth’s Attorney apparently wants to keep her locked up for those 294 days, to punish her for that almost ten months, before she even goes to trial, before the Commonwealth has to prove its case against her.
What if she is acquitted? The prosecution wants to punish her in advance, just in case they don’t win.
Miss Six did not include, in her article, whether either the prosecution or defense requested the June trial date, or whether this was simply a decision by the court.
One final point: while in previous Herald-Leader articles on this case, Miss Hunter is alleged to have injected James Morris with Lorazepam, while in this one, the drug mentioned is Ativan. While these are two brand names for the same drug, any reader who did not know that could be confused.