Region of Kentucky in conniption over remark

PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A federal prosecutor in a high-profile vote fraud trial has struck a nerve with eastern Kentucky residents by describing some potential jurors in the mountain region as "illiterate cave dwellers."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor made the remark trying to persuade a judge not to move the trial of former state Sen. John Doug Hays and several supporters back to Pikeville from London, about 90 miles west.

Pretrial publicity has been so rampant in the region, Taylor said, that many potential jurors in the Pikeville area would have to be disqualified because they have formed opinions.

"All that would remain to try the case would be illiterate cave dwellers."

Although it is not unusual for lawyers to describe people unaware of a high-profile case as living "under a rock" or "in a cave," residents of the mountain region have long been sensitive to anything that smacks of the old hillbilly stereotype. And the furor that erupted last year over the planned CBS reality series The Real Beverly Hillbillies has made some even more vigilant.

"It's my understanding that a federal prosecutor is there to protect the interest of the citizens of Pike County, not to denigrate them," said Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, a Whitesburg group that has led the fight against such stereotypes.

"When you say something like this among your buddies at the country club, it's one thing. But when you go out in public and make this kind of statement, you've got to be stone-cold stupid."

Earl "Mickey" McGuire, a Prestonsburg attorney representing two defendants in the case, filed a terse response to Taylor's brief that said simply: "The jury pool from the Pikeville District is not comprised of "illiterate cave dwellers!' "

McGuire and fellow defense attorney Stephen Owens of Pikeville said they took exception to Taylor's statement.

"I was shocked," McGuire said. "I cannot believe that he put that in writing."

Gregory Van Tatenhove, U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Kentucky, said Friday afternoon that the "tongue-in-cheek" comment was not intended to be offensive.

"We have such an enormous respect for the community that we work in, that we're from," he said. "That reference was simply to point out in a dramatic way, perhaps not as expressively as we had hoped, that we wouldn't be able, given the pretrial publicity, to fairly seat a jury."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright