Kentucky Paramedic Pleads Not Guilty
A paramedic charged with murdering a jail inmate
CATLETTSBURG A paramedic charged with murdering a jail inmate last year pleaded not guilty Friday.
Two former deputy jailers charged with first-degree assault in the case did not enter pleas because they did not have legal representation.
Boyd County EMS paramedic Marty Johnson, 29, of Flatwoods posted his house, in which he has about $15,000 equity, as a property bond later Friday and was released from the Boyd County Detention Center, said Boyd County Jailer Joe Burchett.
Former deputy jailers Matthew Daniels, 31, and Douglas Raybourn, 33, both of Ashland, also appeared. Daniels was released on $28,000 property bond Friday afternoon.
Raybourn remained in the Boyd lockup Friday afternoon while Burchett sought another jail in which to house him.
Bond for each will remain at the $50,000 cash set when they were indicted until they can appear with attorneys, Judge C. David Hagerman said.
The three are charged in the April 11 death of Chad Ray Boggess, 27, of Cross Lanes, W.Va., at King's Daughters Medical Center. Boggess died 26 days after being taken there from the jail by a Boyd County EMS ambulance after the inmate was beaten at the jail.
Boggess was restrained in a prone position with his arms handcuffed behind his back and legs shackled, according to his death certificate. A cot strap also was used to restrain him, the report stated.
Boggess' death resulted from mechanical and positional asphyxia, which means the position of his body interfered with his ability to breathe, and that some type of object was involved.
Members of Boggess' family, who have kept close tabs on the case, said they were "very encouraged" following the arraignment.
"These guys did a brutal, brutal act. They were in a position of authority. They deserve what they get," said Boggess' father, Thaddeus Boggess.
Hagerman scheduled all three for trial Feb. 16. Attorneys will decide later whether they want separate trials.
A trial would last more than a week, said Boyd Commonwealth's Attorney J. Stewart Schneider.
There are some 4,000 pages of FBI investigation documents and 24 hours of grand jury testimony involved, he said.
Another former deputy jailer, Robert R. "Bob" Price, was sentenced in May in federal court to five years in prison for assaulting Boggess.
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