Published: August 25, 2009 11:55 am         

Turpin plead not guilty to charges

Monticello — Wayne County Clerk Melissa Turpin entered a plea of not guilty to two

counts of abuse of public trust over $10,000 but less than $100,000 and two

counts of theft by unlawful taking over $300, during arraignment proceedings

held Tuesday, August 18 in Wayne Circuit Court.

Turpin appeared before Circuit Judge Vernon Miniard, Jr. with her

attorney Tom Carroll.

Carroll waived formal arraignment on behalf of his client and entered

the not guilty plea.

Turpin was indicted earlier this month on the charges, which stem from a

lengthy investigation into what state auditors allege is a nearly $140,000

deficit in the clerk¹s fee account over a two year period.

A special grand jury returned the indictment on Friday, August 7.

Turpin was arrested shortly after the indictment was returned and she

was released on a $100,000 property bond.

Miniard has set a pretrial conference for Turpin on October 20 at 9 a.m.

in Wayne Circuit Court

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.