Plea deal rejected in child abuse case

Nov. 21--PRINCETON -- A plea agreement for a Bluefield man charged in relation to a child abuse and domestic battery case has once again been rejected.

Mercer County Circuit Court Judge Derek Swope was in the process of accepting a plea Wednesday afternoon, but a victim in the case did not agree with the defense account of what happened during the altercation that resulted in the charges.

Swope then set a trial date for Richard Dwayne Hash, 50, for Feb. 4, 2020.

Another plea agreement in the case was rejected by Swope in August after Hash had pleaded guilty to wanton endangerment and domestic battery in May.

An investigation started on July 6, 2018 when Detective Sgt. K.L. Adams of the Bluefield Police Department was notified about an upcoming forensic interview with a 13-year-old juvenile.

During an interview conducted July 10, 2018 at Child Protect in Princeton, the female juvenile said that Hash had hit her on more than one occasion, dragged her by her hair, and had pulled a gun on her, Adams said in his criminal complaint.

The juvenile stated that Hash assaulted his wife by striking her with his fists and saw him pull a gun, threatening to kill her. The juvenile also said that Hash pointed the gun at her when she attempted to call 911, and threatened to kill her if she contacted the police before leaving the home.

Hash was arrested on July 26, 2018.

In October 2018, Hash was indicted on charges including child abuse creating substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, wanton endangerment, endangerment (wife), brandishing a deadly weapon, domestic battery, brandishing, endangerment (to another family member).

Attorney Natalie Hager, who represents Hash, said at the August hearing that Hash was remorseful. She asked that her client receive probation, saying he was helping care for his father and that he would not be able to work at certain coal mines and coal preparation plants if he had a felony record.

Swope told Hash at that hearing the charges against him were extremely serious, and he had concerns about accepting the plea agreement, adding he was "terrified" by the idea of granting probation only to learn later that "you killed somebody."

At Wednesday's plea hearing Swope said he rejected the plea in August "to let a jury figure it out" also because there was also a question of whether the plea was made in earnest as far as admission of guilt.

This time, he said he would only agree to a plea if Hash admits he is guilty, in addition to the formal plea.

Swope also said that other counts of the original counts would be dropped and Assistant Prosecutor Adam Wolfe told him two key witnesses involved related to the other charges, Hash's wife and adult son, are "hostile" witnesses.

Hager said Hash and his wife remain together and never split up over the incident.

With the consent of the prosecution, the guardian ad litem as well as the juvenile involved, Swope on Wednesday heard Hash plead guilty again to wanton endangerment and domestic battery.

Swope explained to Hash the wanton endangerment charge is a felony and carries a penalty of one to five years, with the sentence up to Swope. "I make that decision on probation or jail," he said.

Domestic battery is a misdemeanor charge with a penalty of up a year in jail.

But during the plea agreement process, after Hash had pleaded guilty to those charges, Swope asked Hash to provide a truthful account of what happened that night.

"Those people (Hash's family members in the courtroom) don't believe you did anything wrong," he told Hash. "Everyone in the courtroom needs to know you are guilty."

But Hash declined.

Hager then provided an account of the incident.

"There was an altercation (between Hager and his wife)," she said. "They got into it."

Hager said Hash did hit his wife and the argument went from the bedroom to the living room.

When they were arguing, the juvenile came down the stairs behind Hash.

"He took the gun out and pointed it at his head and threatened to kill himself," Hager said, adding he is guilty of wanton endangerment and domestic battery.

When Swope asked Holland if she agreed to the account of the event, she said she thought that was an "acceptable account" but needed to talk to her client, the juvenile.

At that point, Swope halted proceedings until Holland could confer with her client.

When Holland returned, she told Swope that her client said "the events did not happen that way."

Swope then said the case will go to trial.

"We will clear up what happened in trial," he said, adding that Wolfe will need to decide how many of the charges will be prosecuted by Dec. 17, which is the pre-trial hearing.

"Two counts are viable," Swope said. "The other four counts are problematic."

"Tell everyone what is going to trial," he told Wolfe. "It's your call."

Wolfe said the number of witnesses who are called depends on their cooperation.

Hager said she will probably have two witnesses, three if Hash testifies.

Hash remains free on a $50,000 bond.

-- Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

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