Hamilton County: Board member may see trial for $32 worth of items

Longtime Hamilton County Board of Education member Janice Boydston may be headed for trial after her indictment Wednesday by a grand jury on one count of theft of property stemming from an alleged shoplifting incident last summer.

Ms. Boydston, who claimed at a preliminary court hearing last year that about $32 worth of items must have fallen into her open purse while she was shopping at Wal-Mart, faces up to a year in jail if convicted of the class A misdemeanor.

During the same shopping trip, Ms. Boydston paid for $85 worth of groceries, according to court testimony. After the preliminary hearing, her attorney said they would fight the charge and go to trial if necessary.

“Ms. Boydston maintains her innocence,” defense attorney Sam Robinson III said at the time of the hearing. “The state seems to feel she’s guilty, but only half of the story has been told.”

Ms. Boydston, the school board’s District 6 representative, said Thursday she could not comment on the case, citing advice from attorneys.

She said at the time of her arrest for the incident that “it was stupid of me to have put my purse into the buggy, stupid of me for my purse to be open, but there was no intent.”

Most misdemeanor crimes are resolved in general sessions court, where Ms. Boydston’s preliminary hearing took place. The higher criminal court generally deals with more serious felony crimes such as armed robbery and murder, but anyone accused of a crime is entitled by law to a jury trial if he or she does not want to plead guilty or strike a deal.

Ms. Boydston, who has served on the school board for 28 years, will be arraigned in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Jan. 23.

At the preliminary hearing, a stop-loss prevention officer for the Lookout Valley Wal-Mart testified that she watched Ms. Boydston walk around the store on July 25, during which time the school board member “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, according to testimony.