Friday, December 18, 2009

Arguments heard in former Nicholas principal's assault trial

Did former Nicholas County Principal Joe Orazen use his knee to break the fall of Dusty Green, thus protecting him? Or did he deliver a threatened bodyslam just out of view of students in the school's lobby (but within view of the school's security camera)?

Was Dusty Green a knife or gun toting terrorist deserving of comparison to Dylan Kliebold? Or was he just a mouthy kid with behavior problems?

Is Joe Orazen a hero or a bully? ...threatened or threatening? ...a hot head or a good guy who lost his cool?

Here's the KSN&C Backstory.

This from the Herald-Leader:

A Central Kentucky high school principal accused of assaulting a student in February restrained the student because he felt threatened, and the principal did not know whether the boy had a knife or gun, his attorneys said Thursday.

Defense attorneys told the jury that Dusty Green, then 15, cursed at Nicholas County High School principal Joseph F. Orazen and refused to leave school property.

Orazen's attorney, David Franklin, said the principal didn't want to let Green back inside the school because he feared there could have been a violent outbreak like at Heath High School in Paducah or Columbine High School in Colorado. Those two schools had tragic shootings in the late 1990s in which students were killed and injured.

Franklin said Orazen was justified in his actions.


If Orazen truly had reason to believe that Green was a potential terrorist, as Orazen's attorney now argues, why was he allowed to sit in in-school suspension all day? Did Orazen sit with him? Was a SWAT team present?
A 17-year-old female student testified that the video was not an accurate portrayal of what happened because it's difficult to see the individuals in the footage. She said Green was "moving a lot" and Orazen was trying to restrain him.

Robert Hopkins, the high school's football coach, said he watched as Orazen took Green to in-school suspension that day. He testified that Green was "very disrespectful" and "mouthy, but not violent."

Orazen's trial continues today. He's still got some 'splainin' to do.

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