By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
With a trial scheduled to start in less than three months, attorneys for and prosecuting the cases in which a mother and daughter are charged with murder are continuing to try to hammer out procedural and other matters in advance.
Donna Cheryl Logsdon and her daughter, Cheryl Leighanne Bennett, both of whom go by their middle names, are set to begin facing a jury on the three-year anniversary of the death of their husband and father, respectively, Michael “Mickey” O. Logsdon.
Mickey Logsdon was 75 years old and had been diagnosed with an illness that was expected to eventually take his life, but investigators came to believe that the pair accused hastened that death by tampering with the machine that enabled him breathe, possibly unplugging it multiple times, in his Glasgow home.
Bennett was arrested in November 2022, and Logsdon was arrested the following January after a grand jury chose to return indictments against both women.
Friday’s pretrial conference in Barren Circuit Court was primarily focused on scheduling deadlines for responses related to pending motions to be filed in time for the attorneys on both sides of the aisle to prepare for a status hearing that has been set for May 16. Blake Chambers, the commonwealth’s attorney for the 38th judicial circuit who has been assigned as the special prosecutor, suggested May 7 as the deadline for responses or counter motions for one particular motion he had pending. Circuit Judge John T. Alexander said he would like for any and all filings pertaining to issues they expect to address on the 16th to be submitted by the 7th.
“That’ll give everybody a chance to get up to speed before we get back on the 16th,” the judge said.
He added that there is a trial on his docket that is scheduled to be wrapping up that same day that could impact the scheduling of the status hearing.
“I didn’t think, back when we set it, that we would be having that trial, and I still don’t think I’ll be having that trial, so I’m ready to go full speed ahead on the 16th. If that changes, I will let you know absolutely the next available second after I find out,” Alexander said.
Chambers pointed out that he has also filed notices of two separate kinds of evidence he intends to produce, and those don’t necessarily require a hearing but if the defense attorneys want to file any motions in response to those notices, he suggested that same May 7 deadline for that, and the judge agreed.
The prosecutor also suggested May 16 as a deadline for both sides to make known their intended expert witnesses. John Olash, Bennett’s attorney, said he didn’t think he would have a problem with that, but it could depend upon who is on Chambers’ list and the timing of receipt of it and then whether he feels the need to have someone different to refute the prosecution witness. Alexander indicated that was reasonable.
Discussions also took place regarding bond conditions for Bennett. That included where she should live after completion of substance-abuse treatment. The court has earlier ordered that she live with her mother. Chambers said he understood the judge’s position, but he expressed an objection for the record, “given the type of case this is where she’s been indicted by the grand jury for the murder of a family member that she was allegedly in the position … to be taking care of that person.”
Logsdon’s attorneys are Rob Eggert, who attended via Zoom, and Nick Boggs, who was in court as well on Friday.
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