Christian County Prosecuting Attorney

The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced today that on June 8, 2012 Raymond Reynolds; dob: 12/4/1955 formerly of Ozark, Missouri was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Mark Orr to life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections. On January 18, 2012, in front of the Honorable Judge Orr, Raymond Reynolds entered an Alford plea with no plea agreement to one count of Statutory Sodomy in the First of a Child less than 14 charged as occurring on or about August 17, 2003.

At the time of his plea on January 18, 2012, Raymond Reynolds had previously pled guilty with a plea agreement on January 17, 2006 to six counts of child molestation in the 1st degree. Those counts were charged in five separate felony cases that involved five separate victims under the age of 10. Reynolds is serving an eight year sentence on each of those counts concurrently per the plea agreement. After his incarceration on the child molestation charges, there was a new disclosure of prior ongoing sexual abuse involving a five-year-old child. Following an investigation, charges were filed on July 18, 2006 which ultimately concluded with Raymond Reynolds’ plea on January, 18, 2012 and sentencing on June 8, 2012.

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Christian County Prosecuting Attorney, Amy J. Fite announced today that Chris Lebeck has accepted an opportunity to serve prosecutors as General Counsel and Product Manager for Karpel Solutions. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Karpel Solutions is a custom software design and managed services company that supplies the case management system to not only the Christian County Prosecutor’s office but for over ninety percent of the prosecutor’s offices in Missouri along with many other prosecutor offices throughout the United States. Chris’ departure has resulted in the hiring of Taylor Moore as a new assistant prosecutor. Chris will remain with the Christian County Prosecutor’s Office in a part time capacity during this transition.

In response to the Mr. Lebeck’s new opportunity, Christian County Prosecuting Attorney, Amy J. Fite said, “I am grateful for the hard work of Chris. He was instrumental in converting the office to a file-less office. His skill as a prosecutor and abilities with computers will be missed. I know that in his new position, he will continue to help prosecutors in Missouri and the rest of the United States be more effective and efficient.”

Taylor joined the Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on May 15, 2012. Taylor received his Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University and his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining the Christian County Office, Taylor practiced oil and gas law in New Orleans with Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman and Areaux, L.L.C. After moving to the Ozarks in 2008, Taylor was an associate at the law firms of Millington, Glass & Love and Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown, P.C., where his focus was creditor rights and banking litigation.

“I believe that Taylor is a good addition to the prosecution team in Christian County. He has a drive and dedication, that will help him excel as a prosecutor,” stated Christian County Prosecuting Attorney Amy J. Fite.

The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced today that on May 4, 2012 Raymond L. Carty III, dob: 7/30/1979 of Ozark, Missouri, was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Mark Orr to five (5) years in the Department of Corrections.  Mr. Carty was found guilty by a jury of the class C felony of domestic assault in the second degree following a jury trial that was held March 19-20, 2012. The trial was presided over by the Honorable Mark Orr.

On May 6, 2011, officers were dispatched to a location in Ozark, Christian County, Missouri for a domestic disturbance.  Officers made contact with victim who was standing in the front yard of the residence.   She stated that she and her live-in boyfriend had been arguing and that while she was standing at the sink in her kitchen the defendant picked up a boiling pot of water and poured it onto her neck and shoulders.  The victim was treated for first and second degrees burns at a local hospital.  The victim endured severe pain for many weeks as a result of her injuries and has suffered permanent scarring.

The range of punishment for a class C felony is one (1) day to seven years (7) incarceration and/or a fine up to $5000.

Christian County Prosecuting Attorney, Amy J. Fite is pleased to announce that Christian County commissioner’s Lou Lapaglia and Bill Barnett signed a proclamation today declaring April Crime Victim’s rights month in Christian County.  Each year in Christian County there are approximately 650 victims of a variety crime whom suffer emotional, physical, psychological and/or financial harm.  April 22 – 28^th is National Crime Victims Week and this year’s message was Extending the Vision – Reaching Every Victim.

“Victims of crime not only suffer from the crime itself but unfortunately the criminal justice process can cause additional stress. Public recognition of these difficulties only helps the victims. I am grateful to the commissioners for taking their time and position to recognize and extend the vision of reaching every victim.” said Christian County Prosecuting Attorney, Amy J. Fite.

Christian County Prosecuting Attorney, Amy Fite, is pleased to announce today that 1st Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, Christopher W. Lebeck and Donovan D. Dobbs recently spoke to prosecutors from all over the State of Missouri at the recent Missouri Prosecutor’s Spring Conference at Lake of the Ozarks on April 4-6, 2012. The Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys sponsors two annual trainings to educate and improves the state’s prosecutors.

Mr. Lebeck presented on two different days. On the first day he taught on electronic discovery using Karpel database. The second day he taught on how to legally obtain electronic evidence from smartphones and computers. Mr. Dobbs spoke on jury selection in computer crimes case and presentation of electronic evidence in trials. The subject matter is still relatively new to prosecutors even though we use computers every day and the information presented by both attorneys is vital to prosecuting criminal cases in today’s computer driven world.

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