| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 18, 270.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 7 Jul 2007.
Former teacher indicted on theft charges
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
07-10-2007
A former high school teacher in the Cocke County School System was indicted on theft charges Monday, despite expectations that the charges would be dropped before reaching the Cocke County Grand Jury. The grand jury indicted 55-year-old Arthur Reese Thornton on Monday for two counts of theft of property valued at less than $500. Thornton is alleged to have taken ticket sales money while working as a ticket collector at a high school basketball game last November. He resigned his teaching position in March after the theft allegations surfaced and Cocke County High School security video tapes allegedly showed him removing ticket receipts from a cash box and putting some of the money in his pocket. Thornton was working as a volunteer ticket salesperson at the November 27, 2006, basketball game. During its session on Monday, the Cocke County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Thornton with two counts of theft of property valued at less than $500. The indictment alleges that on two occasions during the basketball game on the evening of November 27, Thornton took cash belonging to Cocke County High School from the ticket sales cash box. On each occasion, the amount of cash taken was less than $500, but the indictment does not list a specific amount of money taken in either incident. It is believed to have been a relatively small amount of cash. The indictment alleges that Thornton took the money "without the effective consent of the Cocke County High School with the intent to deprive the Cocke County High School thereof." On the recommendation of Director of Schools Larry Blazer, Thornton was suspended by the Cocke County Board of Education last January. The recommendation came after the teacher's arrest by School Resource Officer Randy Cutshaw, who was the prosecuting witness before the grand jury on Monday. Thornton requested a full, formal hearing before the board on the matter, and that hearing was scheduled for March 5. But after about an hour of negotiations between school officials and Thornton and his lawyer, Thornton agreed to resign "with the understanding that any [criminal] charges would be formally withdrawn." The teacher's resignation was then presented to the full board, which voted unanimously to accept the resignation along with the withdrawal of the charges. The problem is that the district attorney general's office was not a part of those negotiations and the school board had no standing to withdraw any criminal charges. So despite the board's request that the criminal case be dismissed, the charges proceeded through general sessions court and to the grand jury, which returned the indictment on Monday. "It sort of surprised me because I had talked to [District Attorney General] Jimmy Dunn myself and to Randy Cutshaw and we had understood that it was going to be dropped," Blazer said Monday after learning that the indictment had been returned. District Attorney General Dunn said that the ultimate decision on whether to proceed with the prosecution of a case is his. But when criminal warrants are taken in a case which passes through general sessions court to the grand jury, it is difficult to simply dismiss a charge. That is especially true when the prosecuting witness, who swore out the warrants to begin the case, is on hand to prosecute. Dunn said that Officer Cutshaw expressed no desire to drop the charges. "He didn't say anything about dismissing it, not to me or to my assistants," Dunn said. "If the person who takes out the warrant asks me to do something, that's something I can take into consideration. "But he obviously wanted to prosecute this case because he did it," he added. But even in cases where the prosecuting witness is reluctant to testify, he can be subpoenaed to offer his testimony before the grand jury. Specifically concerning the Thornton case, Dunn said his office has never been a party to any negotiations concerning an agreement to drop the charges. "I have not been a party to any of this," Dunn said. "I did receive a call from the director of schools a couple of weeks ago saying that the school board did not want to proceed with the charges. But the school board did not take the warrants and was not the prosecutor of the case." Another lingering question is the effect the indictment will have on Thornton's resignation since the school board was unable to fulfill its part of the agreement to "formally withdraw" the charges.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 19 Sep 2007.
Thornton given diversion, nine months unsupervised release on theft charge
By: GILBERT SOESBEE
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
09-19-2007
NEWPORT-Former Cocke County school teacher Arthur Reese Thornton was given pre-trial diversion and nine months of unsupervised release on Monday in connection with a theft charge.
Thornton, 55, of Newport, was granted pre-trial diversion on a grand jury indictment charging him with two counts of theft of property valued at less than $500. Circuit Judge Rex Henry Ogle approved the diversion agreement when Thornton appeared during a session of criminal court on Monday.
The agreement between prosecutors and defense attorney Barry Valentine means that Thornton may ask the court to clear the charge from his record after nine months of good behavior.
The former teacher was indicted by the county grand jury on July 9 on two counts of theft of property valued at less than $500. Thornton is alleged to have taken a small amount of money from the till while working as a ticket collector at a high school basketball game last November.
He resigned his teaching position in March after the theft allegations surfaced and Cocke County High School security video tapes allegedly showed him removing ticket receipts from a cash box and putting some of the money in his pocket.
Thornton was working as a volunteer ticket salesperson at the November 27, 2006, basketball game.
The indictment alleges that on two occasions during the basketball game on the evening of November 27, Thornton took cash belonging to Cocke County High School from the ticket sales cash box.
On each occasion, the amount of cash taken was less than $500, but the indictment does not list a specific amount of money taken in either incident. Although Thornton agreed to pay $25 restitution in the case, the actual amount of cash involved is believed to be somewhat less than that.
The indictment alleges that Thornton took the money "without the effective consent of the Cocke County High School with the intent to deprive the Cocke County High School thereof."
On the recommendation of Director of Schools Larry Blazer, Thornton was suspended by the Cocke County Board of Education last January. The recommendation came after the teacher's arrest by School Resource Officer Randy Cutshaw, who was the prosecuting witness before the grand jury.
The agreement approved by Judge Ogle this week places Thornton's case on pre-trial diversion. Under a diversion agreement, the defendant does not enter a plea, but the case remains on the court's docket. If, after good behavior for nine months and compliance with all of the rules of unsupervised released, Thornton may return to court and ask the judge to clear his record of the charge.
"I'm glad, very glad, to get this behind me and I want to concentrate now on getting on with my life and providing for my children," Thornton said after his court appearance.
"Going through hard times like this has shown me that I have a lot of good friends," he added. "And I'd like to thank all those friends, family, church family, and co-workers who have stood close by me and my family during these hard times.
"I've had a wonderful opportunity in my career to help a lot of kids who have had a lot of tough times in their lives," Thornton said. "I truly miss those kids and I hope someday to be able to get back to that."
After the charges were first filed, Thornton requested a full, formal hearing before the Cocke County Board of Education, and that hearing was scheduled for March 5.
But there was about an hour of negotiations between school officials and Thornton and his lawyer before the hearing began, and Thornton agreed to resign "with the understanding that any charges would be formally withdrawn."
The school board's action does not refer to the criminal charges, only the disciplinary options which were available to the board in light of the incident.
The teacher's resignation was then presented to the full board, which voted unanimously to accept it.
Officer Cutshaw, the prosecuting witness who took the warrant against Thornton, expressed no desire to drop the criminal charges. So the case proceeded through general sessions court and to the grand jury, which returned the indictment against the former teacher.
Judge Ogle also heard seven other cases involving plea-bargains between defendants and prosecutors Monday during the first day of a week-long session of criminal court.
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1951 - (73 years)
(Age ~ 75 years) 
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