Special prosecutor Rick Brown expects to make a decision this month on complaints alleging Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jim Cochran assaulted two employees in March.

Saturday, June 10, 2000

Special prosecutor Rick Brown expects to make a decision this month on complaints alleging Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jim Cochran assaulted two employees in March.

State investigators have finished inquiries and the Portsmouth prosecutor’s office is waiting on reports, Brown said.

"We will bring it to a conclusion in some form in the next couple of weeks," he said.

Brown said he could not discuss details of the case while the investigation is pending.

Due to a conflict of interest in the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Walton appointed Brown as special prosecutor for a complaint filed March 29 by the two jailers.

They claim Cochran assaulted them while they were on duty at the county jail. County Sheriff Roy Smith said the incident was part of a training exercise.

According to the complaint, Cochran is accused of felonious wrongdoing and felonious assault during an incident in which he allegedly struck the two men.

Smith said the chief deputy’s actions merely demonstrated the danger the jailers were exposing themselves to.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, or BCI, in Columbus, investigated shortly after the complaint was filed.

Brown has met with BCI agents once and plans to meet with them again this week, he said.

"There were some things I wanted to discuss a second time with the agent," Brown said.

The first meeting just organized the investigation with respect to what must be recorded and summarized for the prosecutor’s review, he said.

Brown must review the complaints and investigation, then decide whether or not to prosecute.

There are several options, which could include dismissing the complaints, a direct charge or some other remedy of law, he said.

"Those are all things this office will explore when it receives all the investigation reports," Brown said.

This is not the first time Cochran has faced an investigation of a training incident.

Cochran was questioned about a June 26, 1998, exercise that involved bringing a supposed prisoner smuggling a mock weapon into the jail.

While two deputies were booking and searching the prisoner, Cochran entered the booking room from the garage and fired a blank at the floor, which accidentally injured a deputy’s leg, according to reports at that time.

A grand jury investigated and found no criminal intent. But jurors recommended that administrative action should be taken against the chief deputy.