Former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Lt. Johnny Harrison, who is awaiting sentencing along with former Sheriff Bobby Medford, is currently in in the hospital and has been granted more time before sentencing takes place, court documents reveal.
In the documents, Harrison’s attorney, William McDowall, notes that Harrison went through back surgery twice in the last month, spending the time in between in rehab. He continues to be on “strong pain killers” according to the documents, which also state that McDowall “has not had conversations with Defendant’s [Harrison’s] physician concerning Defendant’s prognosis for recovery and/or the prognosis for removal from pain killing medicine.”
McDowall then asks for more time (until Aug. 25) to prepare objections to the pre-sentencing report, a document that’s currently not available to the public. The court granted the request earlier today.
Harrison was arrested last December along with Medford, former Lt. Ronnie “Butch” Davis and former Capt. Guy Kenneth Penland on charges of corruption related to video-poker-machine operators. Both Harrison and Davis took federal plea deals, while, following a three-week trial, Medford and Penland were found guilty on all counts in May. The four will be sentenced together.
— David Forbes, staff writer
