Prosecutor wants Nunn evaluation halted

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October 8, 2009

RONNIE ELLIS — CNHI News Service The Glasgow Daily Times Thu Oct 08, 2009, 04:37 PM CDT

FRANKFORT — Since Tuesday, Steve Nunn has been undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in LaGrange.

But that could change. Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson has filed a motion in Fayette Circuit Court asking a judge to halt the evaluation and return Nunn to the Fayette County jail.

Nunn, 56, is accused of shooting his former fiancée, Amanda Ross, 29, on Sept. 11 outside her Lexington town house. Nunn waived his right to a preliminary hearing, automatically sending the case to the Fayette County grand jury which has not yet returned an indictment in the case. At the hearing, Nunn’s attorney, Astrida Lemkins, asked for the evaluation which was granted by Fayette District Judge Julie Goodman.

Nunn was transferred to the KCPC Tuesday, according to Lexington Police Acting Public Information Officer Jennifer Taylor.

“He’s no longer in our facility – he left Oct. 6,” Taylor said. “At this point, we don’t know how long (the evaluation) will take.”

But Larson’s motion contends Nunn shouldn’t be evaluated until an indictment is returned because the evaluation can’t determine “if the defendant is criminally responsible” without a precise charge.

When Lemkins sought the evaluation in district court, the Fayette County Attorney’s office didn’t oppose it. Without an indictment, criminal charges begin in District Court but proceed to Circuit Court on a probable cause ruling by a judge or when a defendant waives that hearing as Nunn did.

Ross was found shot multiple times outside her home around 6 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11. Police began searching for Nunn who last March was accused by Ross of domestic abuse and placed under a domestic violence order. He was found a few hours later in the Hart County cemetery where his parents, former Gov. Louie B. Nunn and Beula Nunn, are buried. He had self-inflicted wounds.

A hearing on Larson’s motion is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday before Fayette Circuit Judge Tom Clark.

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