Amy Word's attorney thinks June trial could move forward

EVANSVILLE — After almost two years of courtroom maneuvering and delays, school board member Amy Word is scheduled to go before a jury in June — and this time her attorney thinks there's a good chance the trial date will stick.

Arrested and charged in 2022 with maintaining a common nuisance, a Level 6 felony, Word was scheduled to go stand trial April 8 during the total solar eclipse after an earlier March trial date was rescheduled. Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers said the court pushed that date back to June 26 because of eclipse-related "congestion."

At issue in the case is Word’s prior ownership and management of Lamasco Bar & Grill, a popular Franklin Street establishment known for its music, food and drinks. Police detectives allege it also became known for a culture of drug taking and selling under Word’s ownership — a claim Word vehemently denies.

Attorney Bob Canada, who represents Word alongside attorney David Kent, told the Courier & Press he’s confident that this time the trial will move forward as scheduled.

So is Moers: "We’re ready (and) we’re confident that it’s going to go," she said. "You never know what the court is going to do. They can adjust their schedule, but hopefully, we’ll be ready for that June date."

As the scheduled trial date inches closer, Canada is set to take what could prove to be important deposition testimony later this month as he finalizes preparations to present Word’s defense to jurors, new court filings show.

Word's case has been as contentious as it has been public, with the school board member adamantly maintaining her innocence inside and outside the courtroom. Shortly after her arrest on July 30, 2022, Word pleaded not guilty and took a leave of absence from the EVSC Board of School Trustees.

In September, Word told the Courier & Press she would not seek re-election to the board. Several months later, Word finalized a deal to sell Lamasco Bar & Grill to a new owner.

Background: Police claim Word new about drug dealing at Lamasco

Word’s seat at school board meetings has sat empty since her arrest on July 30, 2022, which was among nearly two dozen the Evansville-Vanderburgh Narcotics Task Force made during a sweeping investigation into alleged narcotics dealing at several popular Franklin Street bars.

Lamasco Bar & Grill became a focus for the task force after detectives reportedly determined a Lamasco employee "frequently sold heroin, marijuana, cocaine and pills" while at work and at nearby Sportsman's Bar & Grill, public court documents state.

Just hours after Word’s arrest was made public, the then-nascent case against her became a hotly debated topic of public discussion — a spotlight Word claims has more to do with sensational media coverage than her role as an elected official and well-known restauranteur.

The basis for much of that attention are claims put forth in a probable cause affidavit authored by EPD Detective Matthew Knight. In the document, Knight cited multiple confidential informants who claimed to have direct knowledge of the culture inside Lamasco Bar & Grill and Word’s role in that culture.

Five confidential informants reportedly told investigators, "You cannot enter Lamasco and not know about the drug use and distribution that takes place in plain view," Knight wrote in the affidavit. Word's attorneys have questioned the veracity of claims made by the unnamed sources who spoke with detectives.

Canada told the Courier & Press he doubted whether all of the informants would testify at Word's trial.

According to court records, a former Lamasco Bar & Grill employee told police in 2022 that he acted as a middleman who bought small quantities of cocaine that he would later sell at Lamasco.

“[The former employee] stated he gets the money and meets the dealer in the back parking lot and delivers the cocaine back inside of Lamasco,” police wrote in an affidavit after the employee's 2022 arrest. Court documents in that case make no mention of Word.

Among the allegations Knight levied against Word was a claim attributed to an informant who reportedly said Word had been photographed using cocaine at Lamasco Bar & Grill. Word denies that claim, and in July, Canada said prosecutors had not produced the photograph despite a months-long discovery process.

During an interview, Canada called Word's arrest affidavit “sloppy" and cited what he considered to be other errors in the document.

Evansville police maintain that Word's ownership of Lamasco Bar & Grill led the establishment to become a “common nuisance” under Indiana law since the bar had served as the location where, on multiple occasions, people sold and used drugs.

Word and her attorneys contend that such a definition could extend to nearly any Franklin Street bar.

For Word to have maintained a common nuisance, prosecutors will likely have to show that she "knowingly" and "intentionally" allowed Lamasco Bar & Grill property to be used for the purposes of drug dealing or drug use, according to a review of the state's common nuisance statutes.

Word’s attorney could depose central figure in Franklin Street narcotics investigation

Word was not the central focus of the task force's 2022 investigation. That role falls to 36-year-old Demario Montez Holman, who became the focal point of police efforts to rein in drug activity along the Franklin Street nightlife district, according to court records.

Holman, whom the joint city-county task force arrested in July 2022 along with Word and 20 others, faces a bevy of narcotics charges that could result in a decades-long prison sentence if he is convicted.

The EPD accuses Holman of selling cocaine and other drugs to buyers and street-level dealers who frequented Lamasco and other bars, according to a review of arrest affidavits linked to the Franklin Street investigation.

In July 2022, police allegedly seized more than a pound of cocaine during searches of Holman’s Chelsea Lane residence and his vehicle, as well as four handguns, a semi-automatic rifle, oxycodone pills, methamphetamine pills and other drugs.

One day before Word’s arrest, on July 29, 2022, detectives claim they observed Holman meeting with two people in Lamsco Bar & Grill’s parking lot who were shortly thereafter pulled over and found to have cocaine and fentanyl in their possession.

Prosecutors formally charged Holman in August 2022 with eight felony narcotics dealing offenses and one count of neglect of a dependent. Holman has pleaded not guilty, and he is scheduled to stand trial May 22.

Word’s attorneys subpoenaed Holman to answer questions during a sworn deposition later this month. Holman's testimony could be pivotal for both prosecutors and Word because detectives claim Word and Holman spoke to each other multiple times before their arrests.

“The (task force) received subscriber information on both Amy Word and Demario Holman’s phone numbers,” Knight wrote in a sworn affidavit. “Their phone tolls showed the pair made contact via telephone at least twice in March of 2022.”

According to Knight, a confidential informant who attended a party at Word’s house claimed to have seen Holman there with other guests. The detective went on to write in the affidavit that Word and Holman also communicated over the phone and via "encrypted" messaging applications.

In July, Canada told the Courier & Press that Knight portrayed standard social media applications as "encrypted" messaging tools when he wrote the affidavit, and that prosecutors had not turned over evidence showing Word sought to hide or conceal any of her electronic communications.

Potentially complicating the deposition for Word’s counsel is the fact that Holman has yet to stand trial himself and may be advised to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when answering questions under oath.

Out of Sullivan County's roughly 20,000 residents, Word's attorneys and prosecutors will pick 12 to sit on the jury at Word's trial. The Sullivan County Courthouse is about an hour-and-a-half drive north of Evansville.

Moers said she could not discuss details about the state's case before it goes to trial, but she said prosecutors would be ready to go on June 26 should the case move forward as planned.

"We’re confident that we have the evidence to meet our burden in presenting the case to the jury," Moers said.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Amy Word trial date set in June for Lamasco bar common nuisance case