Matt Bevin frees a Kentucky man serving 20 years for a drug crime he did not commit
Departing Gov. Matt Bevin on Monday commuted the sentence of Brian Keith Damrell, 49, a Madison County man who was halfway through a 20-year prison term for a drug crime he did not commit.
The Herald-Leader wrote about Damrell’s case in October.
“I’m glad for Brian,” said his former attorney, James Baechtold of Richmond. “I don’t think it was constitutional to do what they did to him. There were a lot of irregularities in that trial.”
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in Morgan County said Damrell was scheduled for release on Wednesday.
In 2011, prosecutors in Rockcastle County used two minor drug crimes from Damrell’s past to enhance a first-offense charge of methamphetamine manufacturing to a second-offense charge, despite questionable evidence in the case. He had no previous convictions for making meth, but Kentucky law allows such enhancements.
As a result, the penalty that Damrell faced suddenly jumped from 10 years in prison, most likely cut to two years by parole, to 20 years to life behind bars. Prosecutors then offered him a plea deal — four years in prison — but Damrell steadfastly insisted on his innocence and refused to accept it.
Reviewing Damrell’s conviction on appeal, the Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously agreed with him that the severe results “seem illogical,” but it concluded that state law allowed prosecutors to do what they did. “There is simply no ambiguity in this statute,” the high court ruled.
Damrell was expected to remain in prison until 2028 at the earliest. His enhanced charge was a Class A felony, which automatically made him a “violent offender” under Kentucky law, although no violence was alleged to be involved in his case. Violent offenders must serve 85 percent of their sentences until they are eligible for parole review.
Speaking to the Herald-Leader this fall, most of the participants in Damrell’s case said they regretted how it turned out.
“It really hurt me,” said Kentucky State Police Trooper Scottie Pennington, who arrested Damrell and was the sole eyewitness against him. “It bothered me emotionally that he got so much time. He needed to go to jail for a while, but not that long. Honestly, I know the fella, and he’s a decent guy. I think he’s got a good heart.”
Enhancements have played a significant role in the state’s war on drugs. Over the last six years, Kentucky prosecutors enhanced or amended up drug charges at least 819 times, according to statewide courts data.
Among the drug-related enhancements: Someone charged with selling drugs can face an additional felony if they were within 1,000 feet of a school. Someone charged with a drug offense while in possession of a gun can have their charge elevated one level, such as going from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
And under KRS 218A.010(48), someone charged with first-offense meth manufacturing who has a prior conviction for any drug offense other than trafficking — even if the offense was as minor as misdemeanor marijuana possession — can watch unhappily as prosecutors file a motion in court to erase the first-offense charge and skip ahead to second-offense meth manufacturing.
That last one is what happened to Brian Damrell.
Pennington charged Damrell with first-offense meth manufacturing in 2010 after chasing a suspect speeding on an ATV who dropped a glass jar that had meth components in it, according to police.
The suspect escaped into the woods. But Pennington said he got a glimpse of the man’s face and recognized him as Damrell, whom he had arrested once before on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.
Damrell was arrested at his home later that day without incident. His girlfriend and brother testified at trial that he was doing chores with them during the time of the ATV chase.
The jar rode around in the trunk of Pennington’s cruiser for the next year, under the jumper cables, because he forgot to package, tag and log it into evidence until the day before Damrell’s trial began. It never was checked for fingerprints.
“Several things have been sloppy, judge,” prosecutor Jeremy Bartley acknowledged during the trial, talking about the evidence handling. “I’m not happy with the state of the evidence. Do I wish it had been performed differently? Yes, I do.”
