The May Term Grand Jury for Decatur County convened Monday and returned 39 True Bills, no-No Bills and three continued cases.

The True Bills this term were filled with drug cases. Possession of a controlled substance and intent to sell cases were the common sight for the Grand Jury.

“This was a pretty light Grand Jury as far as high profile or serious nature charges,” said District Attorney Joe Mulholland. “As far as the charges this was pretty mild and I think that’s a good thing and an encouraging thing.”

Of the 39 True Bills, 33 of them involved either possession of a drug, possession of a drug with intent to distribute, or possession with 1000 ft. of a housing project.

Among the True Bills was also an aggravated sodomy charged to Tchiavosky Lennard Williams.

The charge was brought upon Williams after he forcibly assaulted a fellow inmate in the Decatur County Jail in March.
“We’re going to deal with that pretty aggressively because it’s so heinous in nature,” said Mulholland. “That’s what you see in the movies so you don’t think its real but every once in a while it happens.”

The lack of high-profile cases came as a relief to Mulholland, who views it as a sign that people are cracking down on crime overall.

“I wish I knew because we would do more of it,” said Mulholland. “I think that, especially in a small town community like we have, that crime is not tolerated and I think in general the attitude of the community is that crime is not something that we’re going to tolerate.”

Mulholland also points out that he believes there is more cooperation between the community and law enforcement, which has assisted in driving down major crimes for the area.

“There’s more community involvement with law enforcement,” said Mulholland. “I think a lot of the problems that were between different agencies or groups in the community have died down and we’re working collectively together to make sure law enforcement is supported.”

The next Grand Jury will convene in August.