CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Pretrial motions are scheduled to be argued Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in the case of suspended Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry.
Loughry’s trial, set for Oct. 2 in Charleston, deals not only with the use of his public office for private gain but also matters amounting to criminal dishonesty — making false statements to a federal agent and witness tampering.
U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver will hear several pretrial motions beginning at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
Federal prosecutors have filed motions to limit admission of “self-serving, out-of-court statements” and “improper character evidence.”
The first asks the judge to “preclude the introduction by Defendant of self-serving, exculpatory statements. Any such statements is hearsay and is inadmissible by Defendant.”
The motion then references how Loughry presented himself to investigators.
“During the course of the investigation of this case, investigating agents conducted several interviews with Defendant,” the motion states. “Those interviews contain self-serving statements, which may be viewed as exculpatory.
The second motion asks to preclude impermissible character evidence.
Loughry faces 25 federal criminal counts. He allegedly committed mail fraud, wire fraud, tampered with a witness and lied to federal agents. The case revolves around court spending and Loughry’s use of a state vehicle and how he was reimbursed for the use of that vehicle.