By JONAH LOSSIAH
One Feather Reporter
(Note: Although contained in the official Criminal Complaint filed in Cherokee Tribal Court, the One Feather has redacted the name of the alleged victim.)
Former Tribal Council Rep. Dennis ‘Bill’ Taylor appeared in his latest pre-trial hearing at Cherokee Court on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 1.
The objective of this hearing was to establish dates for a bench trial, ensure the exchange of discovery, and to address any further matters from the parties involved.
Tribal Prosecutors Cody White and Shelli Buckner informed Judge Barbara Parker that there was one additional charge to add to the three previously filed against Taylor. They submitted a charge of ‘impaired driving’ (in violation of Cherokee Code section 20-138.1) to the list of violations that occurred on Thursday, Oct. 6.
Criminal complaint 22CR9890, which was filed on Oct. 27, provides the following information from the incident:
“I, Captain Wade 734 responded to the area for a report of a motor vehicle crash. Upon investigation, found the incident to have been related to domestic violence and suspicion of alcohol consumption was present. Based on the statements given to me at the initial scene and the evidence present at the second scene, I requested and obtained a court order for blood analysis results on the defendant, Dennis Taylor. On 10/7/2022 at 9:45AM the alcohol content result from Dennis Taylor blood serum was 192.0 mg/dL. I have obtained statements in the medical records of Dennis Taylor admitting to hitting his wife’s vehicle and admitting to binge drinking on 10/6/2022 during this incident as well as stating his last consumed ‘beer’ was at 2130 (9:30pm) which was on 10/6/2022.”
The three other charges are for domestic violence (Cherokee Code 14-40.1), assault with a deadly weapon (Cherokee Code 14-40.55), and reckless endangerment (Cherokee Code 14-40.64). These charges are under case numbers 22CR9853, 22CR9854, and 22CR9855 respectively. The detail of these violations can be found in Article IX of the Cherokee Code.
The alleged victim in the case, then proceeded to offer a voluntary dismissal of the domestic violence protective order from the case DV 22-1095 (Alleged victim vs. Dennis Taylor). She is the defendant’s wife, and she was also looking to regain contact with her husband.
Leo Phillips, the defense attorney, said that he had been in contact with both the alleged victim and Dennis Taylor, and he made a request to the court to allow ‘peaceful contact’ between the two. The alleged victim spoke before Judge Parker and stated that it was her hope to allow Mr. Taylor to move back into the family home and return to normalcy.
Judge Parker, however, said that at this time she wished to see more time and effort before she was willing to allow this request. She did allow for a peaceful contact agreement for the two, but with strict orders that Mr. Taylor is not yet allowed to come back to the family home. Judge Parker stated that they may have full contact via phone call and other forms of virtual communication, as well as the ability to meet in-person to attend spousal counseling. She also insisted that the alleged victim continue to have a safety plan in place in case there are any issues following this order.
While the alleged victim’s voluntary dismissal was accepted, this does not affect the four criminal charges that are still weighed against Mr. Taylor. Taylor vs. EBCI was the remaining focus of the hearing.
Both the prosecution and the defense stated that there have been no issues in sharing discovery, and that the only thing they will need to have prepared before the bench trial is coordinating with experts for trial. They will need to get those experts on retainer and offer reports to each party before proceeding.
Judge Parker announced the date for the bench trial is set for Monday, Jan. 9 at 1 p.m. It is scheduled to last the remainder of that day and all of Jan. 10. The backup dates for the trial are set for Jan. 25 and 26. She also offered a check-in date of Tuesday, Nov. 29 to examine the progress of the couple’s counseling and of Mr. Taylor’s treatment. If there are positive steps taken, Judge Parker said there is a chance that they could loosen restrictions and allow Mr. Taylor to return home.
