We have previously reported on the Lexington Herald-Leader and its adherence to the McClatchy Mugshot Policy of not publishing photos of criminals booked, because it might harm them unfairly at some future point if they are acquitted. Thus, there were no mugshots accompanying this article:

Officer saw two cars shooting at each other near Versailles Road. Pursuit ends in arrests.

By Christopher Leach | September 27, 2021 | 11:56 AM EDT



William Rutherford, Fayette County Detention Center, September 27, 2021, 2:17:09 AM

Two adult males, one of which is an 18-year-old, are behind bars after allegedly getting into a shootout with another vehicle near Versailles Road and Alexandria Drive, police say.

William Rutherford, 18, and Bryan Anicasio-Miranda, 20, were occupants of one of the vehicles involved according to police. They have both been charged with possession of a stolen firearm and possession of marijuana, per jail records.

Police also said there were three juveniles in Rutherford’s vehicle that have been charged as well.

According to police, an officer witnessed two cars that appeared to be shooting at one another near Versailles Road and Alexandria Drive late Sunday night. The officer was able to get behind Rutherford’s vehicle but Rutherford fled, according to the arrest citation.

Lexington police Sgt. Daniel Burnett was unsure how long the ensuing pursuit lasted but said it ended with Rutherford pulling over. Court documents show that the officer recovered a stolen firearm, 35 grams of marijuana and beer inside Rutherford’s vehicle.

Along with the stolen firearm and marijuana charges, Rutherford has also been charged with first degree fleeing or evading police, possession of an open alcohol beverage container in a motor vehicle and having no operator’s license and registration plates, per jail records.

There’s more at the original. The article did not, of course, include young Mr Rutherford’s mugshot, to which the reporter, Christopher Leach,^[1]Chris Leach is a breaking news reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the newspaper in September 2021 after previously working with the Anderson News and the Cats Pause. Chris graduated … Continue reading had access, given that he noted that he checked Fayette County Detention Center records. Interestingly, the jail website had two mugshots of Mr Rutherford, a previous one dated April 6, 2021. Looks like he might not be the nicest guy around.

That, of course, is second to Mr Anicasio-Miranda, who had three mugshots, one each in June and August of 2020 as well as the current one. One of his charges is possession of firearm by a convicted felon, so he’s definitely a bad guy. What my best friend used to call the Herald-Liberal didn’t publish his mugshot either, despite him being a previously convicted felon.

However, despite the McClatchy Mugshot Policy stating that “The permanence of the internet can mean those arrested but not convicted of a crime have the photograph attached to their names forever,” the paper has been willing to publish the photo of a former University of Kentucky basketball player in a story noting that he was just acquitted of the charges against him:

Federal jury acquits former Kentucky basketball star of tax crime charges

By Jeremy Chisenhall | Updated: September 24, 2021 | 2:26 PM

A federal jury on Thursday acquitted former University of Kentucky and NBA basketball player Randolph Morris of several tax crimes.

Morris was charged with three counts of wire fraud and eight counts of making false statements after he failed to report millions of dollars of foreign income while he played professional basketball in China from 2010 to 2017. Morris didn’t deny that he left the income off his taxes, but a jury ultimately ruled he didn’t intentionally defraud the United States.

“This is a huge relief for his family,” said Whitney True Lawson, one of Morris’ attorneys. “We’re happy with this outcome. We think it was the right outcome.”

Morris said he left the income off his taxes because he didn’t understand his tax responsibilities. The team Morris played for at the time, the Beijing Ducks, had a provision in Morris’ contract that stated his income was “net of tax.” The team was responsible for paying taxes on Morris’ behalf to the Chinese government, according to the contract.

But the team was not paying taxes to the U.S. government.

There’s more at the original.

Mr Morris, being a former UK player, has had his photo in the Herald-Leader dozens, if not hundreds, of times. UK basketball is wildly popular in the Bluegrass State, and, let’s be honest about things, the only reason for some people to pay for subscriptions to the paper. But the very reason that the McClatchy policy stated for not having mugshots published, a person charged with a crime but not convicted, would absolutely apply to Mr Morris.

The Herald-Leader also had a story about charges being dropped against six UK football players, and if the paper didn’t print their photos, the article linked to all of the players individual biography pages, which did have photos. The article noting that a grand jury had declined to indict the players included a description of the events which led up to prosecutors wanting to file charges in the first place, to taint the players’ reputations. Kind of a far cry from the policy designed to protect the reputations of those accused of crimes but not convicted.

Of course, the story of a federal trial over “three counts of wire fraud and eight counts of making false statements” would probably not have made the paper at all were the accused not a UK basketball player or some other person of local note. The paper has very limited resources, and limited staffing as well.

The Herald-Leader is wracked with hypocrisy when following the McClatchy Mugshot Policy, but I’ve grown to expect nothing else from them.