Hamilton Couty: Boydston ready to go to court in theft case, lawyer says

The defense attorney for Hamilton County Board of Education member Janice Boydston said Thursday he and his client are prepared to go to trial on a charge that she stole about $32 in merchandise from the Lookout Valley Wal-Mart over the summer.

“(Ms. Boydston) maintains her innocence,” defense attorney Sam Robinson III said Thursday after a preliminary court hearing. “The state seems to feel she’s guilty, but only half of the story has been told.”

A charge of theft under $500 against Ms. Boydston was bound over to a grand jury Thursday. If the grand jury indicts her on the misdemeanor charge, she could face up to a year in jail if she is found guilty during a criminal trial.

According to the Hamilton County district attorney’s office, prosecutors tend to encourage people charged with misdemeanors to resolve their cases in General Sessions Court as opposed to Criminal Court, where felonies generally are prosecuted.

At the hearing Thursday, Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Rex Sparks questioned witness Christina Hooper, a stop-loss prevention officer employed by Wal-Mart.

In describing the testimony, Mr. Sparks said Ms. Hooper followed the defendant around the store on July 25, watching the defendant deliberately put a cosmetic case, a scented candle and a package of shoe inserts into her purse. She also put a diet Coke into her purse without paying for it, Mr. Sparks said.

When Ms. Hooper confronted the school board member at the exit, Mr. Sparks said, she testified that Ms. Boydston was “immediately remorseful.”

The District 6 representative, who has served on the board for 28 years, said at the time of the incident that the items must have fallen into her open purse when she placed them in her cart. She paid for $85 worth of groceries, she said.

Ms. Boydston did not testify Thursday, and Mr. Robinson said he has instructed her not to discuss the case with anyone.

“It was stupid of me to have my purse in the buggy, stupid of me for my purse to be open, but there was no intent,” Ms. Boydston said at the time of the incident.