According to court records, the following hearings were held in the Pocahontas County Circuit Court before the Honorable Judge Robert E. Richardson: In the case the Town of Durbin vs Michael Vance, the court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case. The court referred the matter to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals for appointment of a three-judge panel. An extradition hearing was held in the case the State vs Joseph Robert Gibbons, 33, an inmate in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail. The defendant appeared by video, as did the Assistant Prosecutor from Floyd County, Virginia. Gibbons did not waive his right to a hearing and contested the identity in the petition. A status hearing is set for March 9. Plea negotiations are in the works in the case the State vs Richard Keener, 39, of Hillsboro. A change of plea hearing is set for March 4. After hearing evidence from the petition, reviewing the probation memorandum, and hearing no objection from the State, the court granted expungement of the criminal record of John Whitlow II, 65, of McKenzie, Tennessee. The court determined that Lloyd William Lightner, Sr. and Betty Jane Lightner are proper persons to continue serving as bondsmen for this court and shall continue to serve as such until further order or for a period of one year, whichever comes first.
