Monday, March 27, 2006

Shane Ragland -- Pillar of Society

If you visit ShaneRagland.com, you get the impression that Shane Ragland is a golden child who walks little old ladies across the street and never so much as jaywalked. It was only through a mass conspiracy among the Lexington Police, FBI, a jilted girlfriend, and probably the CIA and the Mafia that Shane was convicted.

But, lest we forget, here's some articles from several years ago in the Courier Journal, presented in chronological order. Ask yourself if the child of someone who wasn't a major Frankfort businessman with connections to state government would have gotten off so easy each time. The second article is especially fascinating. I've also included details of Shane Ragland's beating at the hands of a fellow inmate at the bottom.

I have added emphasis where I have found something interesting. I've copied directly from Newsbank:

Ragland case shows
Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
July 30, 2000
Author: GERTH JOSEPH
Estimated printed pages: 5

holes in DUI laws

Despite 5 convictions, he has done little time

JOSEPH GERTH, The Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Shane Ragland, charged with the 1994 murder of a University of Kentucky football player, has been convicted repeatedly on drunken-driving charges since 1991.

But because of suspended sentences and poor communication among prosecutors in different counties, he has served little time in jail, according to court records.

Ragland, 27, the son of a prominent Frankfort businessman, has been convicted five times in nine years of drunken driving and twice for the related violation of driving on a license suspended for drunken driving.

He has been sentenced to jail five times for those offenses - for a total of 522 days - but has served only 52 days.

He completed only one sentence. Judges suspended part or all of the others, meaning Ragland didn't have to serve the time unless he committed another offense within a certain period. But when he did so on three occasions, court records show, the judges failed to order more jail time - apparently because the violations occurred in different counties and court officials weren't aware Ragland had suspended sentences pending.

Ragland's case illustrates cracks in the legal system, say those familiar with the law.

``It's a systemic problem,'' said Benham Sims, a former Louisville prosecutor and judge who wrote the state prosecutors' DUI manual. ``I think we need to make sure DUI convictions are registered with an appropriate central registry, and there should be accountability for prosecutors and clerks who fail to file the paperwork in a timely fashion.''

In Bullitt County, where Ragland was convicted in 1998 on his fourth drunken-driving charge, prosecutors are too overwhelmed by a massive caseload to check out details of every defendant, said Bullitt County Attorney Walt Sholar.

``This office handles 10,000 cases a year,'' Sholar said. ``I've got two part-time assistants who make about $20,000 a year and another who makes about $12,000. . . If we had more people, we'd be able to do that kind of thing.''

Ragland was arrested July 14 and charged with the 1994 murder of former UK football player Trent DiGiuro, a shooting police allege stemmed from Ragland's resentment over having been blackballed from a UK fraternity. He has pleaded innocent and remains in jail on a $1 million cash bond.

His lawyer, Bill Johnson, declined to comment.

In Ragland's drunken-driving cases, prosecutors in counties where he was convicted didn't learn of his later offenses in other jurisdictions.

Sims, author of ``But Occifer, I Only Had Two Beers,'' said the system fails in cases such as Ragland's because there is no easily accessible central source of information about drunken-driving arrests and there are no penalties for court officials who don't follow through as they should.

DESPITE HAVING his license suspended after convictions for five drunken-driving arrests, Ragland has continued to drive - sometimes when he had drugs and drug paraphernalia in his car.
Not once was he brought back to a county to answer charges that he violated a judge's order to stay out of trouble or to complete the sentence originally handed down.

``That's outrageous,'' said Rep. Rob Wilkey, D-Franklin, when told what has happened in the Ragland case. ``He's running up and down the highway and we're turning him loose.''

In fact, Wilkey, a lawyer and co-author of the state's new DUI law, said Ragland should have been sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison for DUI by now and should have served most, if not all, of those sentences.

``You're not doing him a favor at this point,'' said Wilkey. ``This is a person who has a serious substance abuse problem. The best thing you can do is put him in prison and make him get treatment. . . . When you slap him on the wrist you're telling him, `it's really OK to do what you did.' ''

Ragland has been charged with crimes and driving offenses 21 times since 1991 - 15 of those cases involved drug or alcohol charges, court records show.

RAGLAND'S drunken-driving record dates back to 1991, when as a student at UK, he was convicted of driving under the influence and paid a fine. Ragland was charged with drunken driving again in September 1996. He was convicted on that charge and served seven days in jail - the minimum for the crime.

Just seven months later, in April 1997, he was caught speeding in Franklin County on a suspended driver's license. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail but the sentence was suspended as long as he didn't have any alcohol-related driving offenses in the next year.

But eight months later, in December 1997, Ragland was again charged with drunken driving, this time in Franklin County. Because it was the second time he was caught driving drunk in a five-year period, he could have faced harsher penalties, but the charge was reduced to a first-offense DUI and Ragland was fined but not sentenced to any jail time. It is unclear why he was not sent to jail. Franklin County Attorney Jim Boyd did not return numerous calls to his office last week.

One year after that incident, a state trooper in Bullitt County charged Ragland with drunken driving after the trooper found Ragland driving in a ditch along Interstate 65 near Shepherdsville. Ragland was found guilty and a Bullitt County judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail but suspended 23 of them - on the condition that Ragland have no more drug or alcohol-related violations for two years.

The following year, in November 1999, Ragland was charged in Shelby County with driving on a suspended license and possession of marijuana. He was found guilty on both counts, fined and sentenced to 12 months in jail - with all but 10 days suspended on the condition he not break the law for two years.


Less than four months after that arrest - and 10 days before he was sentenced - Ragland was again arrested in Franklin County and charged with DUI. Court records allege he led police on a chase through Frankfort before he was arrested - prompting a felony charge that is scheduled to be tried next month.

He was convicted on the other charges stemming from the incident and sentenced to 12 months in jail. He served 28 days, then spent two months in a drug treatment program in Florida. Nine months of his sentence were suspended on the condition that he not have any drug or alcohol-related driving violations for two years.

Sholar, the Bullitt County attorney, said he doesn't believe he ever received notice of Ragland's subsequent arrests in Shelby or Franklin County. That's why, he said, his office didn't bring Ragland back to serve the remaining 23 days on his sentence there.

If Ragland were required to complete the sentences in Bullitt and Shelby counties, he'd be in jail for more than a year.

SHOLAR SAID it's not surprising that county attorneys in Franklin and Shelby counties didn't notify him of the charges - they probably weren't aware of Ragland's suspended sentences, he said. In fact, Sholar said his office doesn't have the resources to fully research the people it prosecutes to determine if they should be sent to other counties to complete sentences.

Shelby County Attorney Charles Hickman did not return numerous calls to his office last week.

Sims said instances such as the Ragland case are probably common and that individual prosecutors are not to blame. Prosecutors are overburdened and don't have time to run as thorough background checks as they should, and the driver-history records they have easiest access to don't tell them vital information, he said.

Basic information about charges and convictions throughout the state is available from the state Administrative Office of the Courts, but prosecutors don't have computer access to the records now, said spokesman Russ Salsman. He said that a computer hookup through the Internet is ``on the horizon'' at some point but that the state is still working through a number of issues, including privacy concerns, before it is available to prosecutors online.

Shane Ragland remains in jail, charged with the murder of Trent DiGiuro.

INFORMATIONAL BOX: SHANE RAGLAND'S DUI RECORD (SEE LIBRARY MICROFILM)
Edition: MET;METRO
Section: NEWS
Page: 01A

Index Terms: LI; LIST; CRIME; ASSAULT; MURDER; Shane Ragland
Dateline: KENTUCKY, USA;UNITED STATES, LEXINGTON
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou2000073109260331




Ragland violated conditions of bond on murder charge
Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
August 11, 2001
Author: GERTH JOSEPH
Estimated printed pages: 8

JOSEPH GERTH, The Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Shane Ragland, accused of killing a University of Kentucky football player in 1994, has violated his bond conditions at least 50 times in the past year with minimal sanctions.

Ragland, 28, failed three breath-alcohol tests and showed up more than an hour late for one test. He also has called in late, or not at all, more than 40 times to a computer that tracks his whereabouts, according to records from the Fayette County Department of Detention.

Although he is supposed to stay at home or at work unless taking part in a court-approved activity, Ragland has reported in from restaurants and a video store in Frankfort, and numerous times from the home of his girlfriend, the daughter of a Franklin Circuit Court judge.

More than a year ago, police charged Ragland with murdering Trent DiGiuro, a UK student who was shot in the head with a highpowered hunting rifle. Authorities have said Ragland believed DiGiuro got him blackballed from a UK fraternity.

Guthrie True, Ragland's attorney, said his client had initial problems adjusting to electronic monitoring and that technical problems with the monitoring system also were to blame. But True said he doesn't think Ragland has violated any call-in requirements since the first few months he was monitored.

Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark, who received the reports on Ragland's violations from corrections officials, said the number of release violations he would allow before revoking bond ``varies from case to case.'' He refused to comment on Ragland's violations.

After Ragland had been on Fayette County's electronic monitoring program about a month, Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson asked to tighten the release terms because of repeated violations. Clark lengthened the hours of Ragland's curfew and ordered twice-a-week drug and alcohol testing.

But the violations continued, and the court record of the case does not indicate any further attempts by Larson to more strictly monitor or sanction Ragland. Larson refused to comment.

The electronic monitoring program's guidelines call for corrections officials to ask the judge to revoke participation if the defendant makes three late calls in a 30-day period fails to respond to pages twice in a 30-day period fails to contact the program for 24 hours is charged with new criminal offenses or misses drug or alcohol tests or tests positive. The records show that Ragland violated the late-calls, no-responses and alcohol-test rules, lapses that corrections officials reported to Clark.

Fayette Chief Circuit Judge Mary Noble said judges normally view bond violations, even minor ones, as serious. ``It's been my experience that any violation will get you revoked,'' she said.

But she said it's up to a judge's discretion whether to revoke bond, and she wouldn't want to secondguess one.

IN JEFFERSON County, Chief Circuit Judge Thomas Wine said people are taken into custody automatically if they violate their bond conditions, and a judge later decides whether to renew or revoke the bond. ``Whenever you say to a defendant, `That's a gray area,' they will push it as far as they can,'' he said.

Jo Ann Phillips, executive director of Kentuckians' Voice for Crime Victims, said the number of violations by Ragland tell her he was not a good candidate for bond. ``He should have been hauled back in 49 violations ago,'' she said.

But Phillips said the bond system has traditionally favored the accused. In Ragland's case, she said, it has ``given him wide berth. . . . What this says to him, his friends and people like him is that the system doesn't really punish you.''

Melinda Wheeler, deputy director of the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said the agency does not offer judges guidelines regarding if and when they should revoke bond. Such decisions are made on a caseby-case basis, she said.

Since Aug. 18 last year, Ragland has been out on bail. His father, Jerry Ragland, a Frankfort businessman, put up $1 million in cash to secure his release. Jerry Ragland is among the largest landlords of state government, and the Ragland family has long been well-respected in Frankfort business and political circles.

The trial, scheduled for January, has been postponed several times, most recently so the defense could prepare to refute new prosecution evidence that has not been publicly disclosed.

DiGiuro's mother, Ann, declined to comment, saying she and her husband, Mike, residents of Oldham County, were told by prosecutors they should not discuss anything regarding the case.

Under Fayette County's electronic monitoring program, Ragland is required to call in by telephone several times a day, respond to random pages, abstain from use of alcohol and drugs, and stay at home or at work unless he gets prior approval to go elsewhere.

He must stay home on weekends, and on weeknights between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. He also is prohibited from leaving Franklin County, where he splits his time living with his mother and father, who are divorced.

But Fayette County corrections officials logged at least 50 violations of the terms of Ragland's release through February. Reports on the violations were sent to Clark and Larson, and Clark was asked 10 times by county detention officials to reconsider Ragland's participation in the program, in accordance with program guidelines.

There is no record of any action being taken as a result of those requests.

RAGLAND'S ATTORNEY said the monitoring system was flawed for the first few months Ragland was on it. ``There were a number of incidences where he didn't get pages,'' True said. ``There were disputed facts on both sides of the case.''

Some violations came early in the morning or late at night, when True said Ragland was sleeping and didn't hear the pager. And True said Ragland is not bound to stay at home or at work except on weekends and during curfew hours. True said he doesn't interpret the monitoring program's terms as barring Ragland from going out to eat or ``visiting anyone's home in Franklin County.''

The contract Ragland signed with the monitoring program says participants must maintain a detailed schedule approved in advance.

``You will be allowed to maintain current employment with appropriate travel time allotted and/or be allowed to remain in your residence instead of being placed in the Detention Center,'' the contract reads. ``You will report directly to your authorized destination,'' it goes on to say.

The home incarceration program started years ago as a way to punish non-violent offenders while not taking up jail space.

The system has expanded to include people who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing, and for some suspects awaiting trial. As of this week, about 15 people were in the program, including two people convicted and awaiting sentencing. Ragland was the only person in the program awaiting trial.


Tom Bullock, a lawyer for Aimee Lloyd, a former girlfriend of Ragland's who is expected to be the chief prosecution witness at his trial, said allowing Ragland to remain in the monitoring program after so many violations could make him believe he is above the law.

``Not enforcing the terms of his release is the same as not having any conditions at all,'' Bullock said. ``That would be ridiculous. If he is out of jail and he's not monitored, he has the means and ability to do anything he wants.'' Bullock has said that Lloyd is afraid of Ragland, and the attorney is trying to keep her whereabouts a secret.

A key part of Fayette County's home incarceration program requires participants to call in to a Texasbased monitoring company that allows jail officials to track their whereabouts. The company, Voice Track, uses digital technology to confirm that the voice of the person calling is that of the person ordered to take part in the program. The computer at the company also records the telephone number from which the phone call was made.

The data allow Lexington corrections officers to know if Ragland calls from his father's house simply by looking at a computer printout. If he doesn't call on time, officers are notified.

ACCORDING TO the program's rules, those participating must be at home or at work except in certain situations. Unless they live alone, they are not even allowed to go to the grocery store or a coin laundry.

Last October, Ragland sought and received permission to go to the dentist. But Clark denied permission for him to go shopping for clothes. True said the denial was because Ragland wanted to shop outside the county.

Among the documented violations of Ragland's release terms:

On Sept. 27, Ragland didn't respond to several pages. When corrections Lt. Brian Proffitt tried to call him at home, he got an Internet answering service. Proffitt then called the Franklin County sheriff's office to ask that someone go to Ragland's father's home and look for him.

Forty-six minutes after the original page, Ragland called Proffitt and told him he had missed the page because he was in the shower.

When Proffitt told Ragland that a sheriff's deputy was on his way to check on him, according to Proffitt's memo to Clark, ``Mr. Ragland then became very agitated and began asking why I had done that to him. I could hear him moving things, shuffling things and breathing heavier.''

Ragland then called back to ask when the deputy would arrive.

In fact, the deputy never arrived. Instead, the deputy called Proffitt and told him that Franklin County Sheriff Ted Collins said his deputies ``were not authorized to make contact with Mr. Ragland except by order of the commonwealth's attorney or a warrant from the presiding judge.'' State law, however, would require no warrant to knock on the door and ask if Ragland was home.


Collins said he ``vaguely remembers'' the incident. He said his office would not make such a run ``without hearing from the court. That would be my standard operating procedure.''

Collins said the prominence of Ragland's family does not matter.

``I treat everybody the same here,'' he said. ``This is the capital city, and a lot of people here are somebody, and if they aren't somebody they know somebody who is somebody.''

On Nov. 11, Ragland didn't call in at 7 a.m. as scheduled. When Sgt. Marla Woodson called him at home, she woke him and told him to call in.

An hour-and-a-half later, he again failed to make a scheduled call. Again, Woodson had to call and wake him. Twenty minutes later, Ragland called her back and offered, without being asked, to take a drug and alcohol test. Ragland, who has had five drunken-driving convictions, is supposed to abstain from using alcohol. The breath-alcohol test registered 0.065 percent, below the level of 0.08 percent at which a driver is considered drunk but a violation of Ragland's release terms.

On Jan. 16, Ragland again tested positive for alcohol, this time at a level of 0.066 percent. And on Feb. 7, Ragland showed up more than an hour late at the program's downtown Lexington office for drug and alcohol testing, claiming he couldn't find a ride, and recorded a level of 0.041 percent.

According to files from the Fayette County Division of Community Corrections, corrections officials last found Ragland to be in violation on Feb. 12, when he was late in making a scheduled phone call.

Since then, the division has not submitted any new findings of violations to Clark and Larson, partly because Ragland's calling record has improved, and partly because program officials haven't checked where the calls originated.

Drexel Neal, the assistant director of community corrections for the Fayette County Detention Center, said because Ragland works for his father and must travel throughout the county, it's impossible for corrections officials to tell whether Ragland is at work when he is supposed to be there.

Most calls from Ragland, sometimes more than a dozen a day, come from either his father's or mother's home or from the Ragland Co., a property management firm that his father owns.

But Ragland also has made calls from the home of Roger Crittenden, the judge whose daughter he is dating. The calls have increased in recent months - five in the first 16 days of July, three in June, five in May, three in April and four in March.

Only two of the calls were approved - both on Easter, when Ragland received permission to leave home for Easter dinner.

Crittenden said he doesn't believe Ragland's visits to his home violate the release terms. If he put someone on a similar electronic monitoring program and was notified the person was calling from an unapproved location but made his curfew, ``I'd say why are you bothering me,'' Crittenden said.

``I'll tell you what this is - it's the prosecution using the press to guarantee this boy doesn't get a fair trial,'' he said.

Ragland also has made two calls from Casa Fiesta, a Mexican restaurant in Frankfort, one from a Blockbuster Video store, one from Gibby's Deli and one from Fazoli's restaurant.

Shane Ragland

Trent DiGiuro, a University of Kentucky football player, was fatally shot in the head with a hunting rifle in 1994 in Lexington.
Edition: KY;KENTUCKY
Section: NEWS
Page: 01A

Index Terms: MALE; Shane Ragland; Trent DiGiuro
Dateline: KENTUCKY, USA;UNITED STATES, LEXINGTON
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou2001081310181807




Ragland accused of causing injury on boat outing
Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
August 15, 2002
Author: JOSEPH GERTH
Estimated printed pages: 3

Incident occurred during house arrest before murder trial

JOSEPH GERTH

jgerth@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Shane Ragland, convicted in March of the murder of University of Kentucky football player Trent DiGiuro, is accused of hurting a woman in a boating accident last summer while he was supposed to be under house arrest while awaiting trial.

A lawsuit filed in Franklin Circuit Court claims that Ragland and another man, Kenny Lancaster, pushed Emily Moore Houston from a boat during an outing on the Kentucky River in July 2001 and that she was injured by a propeller.

It is one of several cases, civil and criminal, involving Ragland, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal shooting of DiGiuro in 1994.

Ragland's lawyers will be in court tomorrow seeking dismissal of a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by DiGiuro's father.

Last week, Ragland's lawyers subpoenaed an FBI bullet analyst who admitted lying during a pretrial hearing in the murder case. The attorneys, seeking a new trial for Ragland, want the analyst to testify at a hearing next month.

And in another case, Franklin Commonwealth's Attorney Larry Cleveland has asked a judge to set a trial date for a 2000 felony case in which Ragland is accused of fleeing from police while driving drunk, crashing his Mercedes-Benz. A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Aug. 27.

Houston's lawsuit suggests that Ragland violated the conditions of his release before the murder trial.

The Courier-Journal reported last year that Ragland had violated the terms of his release on at least 50 occasions - often responding late to pages, failing three blood-alcohol tests and returning calls from restaurants and even from the home of a judge whose daughter Ragland was dating.

While on home incarceration, Ragland was required to be at home or at work unless he was taking part in court-approved activities such as church or meetings with his lawyer.

``I think his history has been to disobey any kind of rule or law put down before him, so I guess I'm not surprised,'' said Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson. He added that the allegations indicate that Ragland violated the terms of his release.

Guthrie True, one of Ragland's lawyers, said he had no knowledge whether Ragland was on the boat, as Houston's lawsuit claims.

Houston's attorney, Stephen O'Brien, could not be reached yesterday.

According to Houston's lawsuit, Ragland and Lancaster threw her off the back of the boat and she was injured by the propeller. The lawsuit, filed July 3, also names Perry Goins, the boat's owner, and Tim Adcock, who Houston says was at the helm, as defendants.

The lawsuit did not describe Houston's injuries but said she sustained ``permanent injury and permanent impairment of her power to earn money'' and has ``incurred and will incur in the future medical expenses.''

According to a response to the lawsuit filed by Kathy Ragland, Shane Ragland's mother, she witnessed the event. Kathy Ragland claims that Houston jumped into the water on her own and was injured as she tried to climb back on the boat.

Goins and Adcock claim in their responses that Ragland and Lancaster were responsible for any injuries to Houston. Lancaster has not filed a response.

In the murder case, prosecutors and defense lawyers are preparing for a Sept. 5 hearing before Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark on whether to set aside Ragland's conviction and order a new trial.

Defense lawyers asked for a new trial after learning that FBI bullet analyst Kathleen Lundy had given false testimony during a pretrial hearing. The hearing concerned whether to allow evidence that the bullet used to kill DiGiuro may have came from the same batch as bullets found at Ragland's father's home.

Lundy corrected her testimony at the trial. But Ragland's lawyers have argued that Lundy's evidence would not have been allowed at the trial if she had given the correct information at the hearing.

Larson also has subpoenaed Lundy for the Sept. 5 hearing. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Malone has said he does not know whether she will refuse to testify.

True said he doesn't know if Lundy will testify.

Lundy's lawyer, David O'Brien of Washington, did not return a telephone call yesterday.

Shane Ragland was required to be at home or at work during his house arrest unless he was taking part in court-approved activities such as church or meetings with his lawyer.
Edition: KY;KENTUCKY
Section: NEWS
Page: 01B

Index Terms: Q QUOTE; CD COURT DECISION; COURT; LAWYER ATTORNEY; SHANE RAGLAND; TRENT DIGIURO; KENNY LANCASTER; EMILY MOORE
Dateline: KENTUCKY, USA;UNITED STATES, LEXINGTON
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou2002081509398008





Griffin was cited for physical action resulting in the serious injury of another inmate, a Category VII, Item 2, violation of Corrections Policy and Procedure (CPP) 15.2.1 Griffin seriously injured inmate Shane Ragland by striking him in the head at least three times with a ten-pound weight plate on June 1, 2003. This attack was the climax of an argument between the two, which started over whose turn it was to use a piece of weightlifting equipment. After Ragland was found injured in the weight pavilion, he received first aid at the prison. He was later transported by stretcher to Baptist Hospital Northeast and then by stat flight to University Hospital in Louisville. His head wound was closed with surgical staples. The disciplinary report was based on the accounts of inmate witnesses Ragland, James Bunch, Steve Halsey, and Roger Whitaker; but it did not identify exactly what each of these witnesses said about the incident.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just finished watching city confidential on this story so had to look it up I read this whole story and as a student of criminal justice and a victims advocate for my county the county DA it makes me SICK to my stomaches how $$$ rules us...especially after we just celebrated Resurrection Sunday and knowing as I just buried the ashes of my 26 yr. old last nov. 2007 that you can NOT take it with you and your CHARACTURE is everything and if not how can one live with themselves. I was so impressed with the characture of trent and appalled at the one of Shane and his parents especially his father...some role model.

Unknown said...

If you want to raise a psychopath, which there is every indication Shane's parents did, you make sure they don't learn any limits. No consequences for their actions. The parents need to be locked up too.

Anonymous said...

What a bigmouth, arrogant moron. His pillowtalk led to his undoing.

Unknown said...

I also just saw the City Confidential report on this case. Of course Shane Ragland is a classic sociopath, but this story also shows the sociopathy of our culture which allows a reprehensible character like this to evade justice all his life.

Unknown said...

I just the City Confidential show, too.

Another spoiled rich kid getting away with everything in the book.

His father should be doing time with him for having created this monster.

super nova said...

this is the most incompetent bought and paid for group of judges,prosecuters i ever seen i thought lindsey lohan crap was sick,these people need to be disbarred and removed from the bench,but when everybody in town kisses daddys ass what can be done,50 bond violations and when daddys monster did call in he'd been drinking,he should be a DWI felon.What a sick mentally-ill family who bought their son a get away with murder ticket,and dad better be on guard kids like this will kill parents for the familys riches,hope they have the most hellish life ever,cowards

Anonymous said...

Shane Ragland and his rich daddy are gutter slime. Class, integrity, and character cannot be purchased - as they have demonstrated time and again. Every ounce of compassion and sympathy I have lies soley with the DiGuiro family and anyone else the Raglands have hurt or screwed over. I would relish the chance to spit on the Ragland's designer shoes.

Anonymous said...

Pathetic excuse for a human being. His ignorant parents raised a monster who refuses to accept any personal responsibility for his actions. But know this, your money may buy you a temporary free pass from justice; however, you'll eventually pay for the harm you cause others. Does it appear from the articles that he's having a good, happy life? No. He and his inbred family members are likely sitting around with all that money... absolutely miserable. And they deserve to be miserable.

Anonymous said...

It's CHARACTER, a caricature is a artistic representation of a person (those funny drawings you can but at cedar point). I completely agree with what you meant though. This scum should've got raped in prison.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Ragland,

I believe it's pretty safe to say that you have done a horrible job of raising your son but at least you still have him unlike the DiGiuro family. I think it only right that you pay up on the wrongful death suit. Obviously you are rich enough to buy your son's freedom, how about for once you teach him to do what's right and give poor Trent's family some recognition that what Shane did was horribly wrong and tragic.

Anonymous said...

This is a prime example of how money can pervert the course of justice.

Anonymous said...

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/82840457.html

http://www.wtvq.com/content/localnews/story/Shane-Ragland-Seriously-Injured-In-Crash/6UOgqlJ320uJNOeveaT0GA.cspx

He just keeps spreading destruction.

Anonymous said...

How can anyone justify not conducting a drug and alcohol test when this reckless person crashed less than 50 days after his last arrest for DUI? Not to mention that arrest was at least #6 if I did the math correctly. Enabling this menace only allows him to get out there and continue to hurt people- he will kill someone again eventually if your police and people of authority don't do the right thing. This time, the cops are just as reckless as this boy wonder of Kentucky. Oh- I am the person who owns the SUV he hit on Dec 29 2012. He could have killed my family in that crash.

Anonymous said...

Apparently, sometime in the last month of 2012, he was involved in an accident that has left him pretty messed up. IT appears that he will have to use a wheel chair for the rest of his life.
This should impair his driving quite a bit.
I usually don't find myself wishing bad on anyone so I won't break the trend and start here, but I can't say that I shed any tears at the knowledge that he was now on the road to feeling a tiny bit of the pain that he has caused others.

Anonymous said...

What a bunch of animals,the whole Ragland "LITTER" the crooked judge w/ the daughter raglands dating, the chief of police sucks as well as the crooked scum sucking police force. The community as well is a "sledge basen" for giving a "scumbag family" like the raglands any type of respect.

Anthony Stanley said...

I understand that Shane Ragland is now a quadriplegic. Since he admitted to the murder or Trent Trent DiGiuro, it doesn't bother me to say that he got exactly what he deserved. If he had been in prison where he belonged, he'd still have the use of his arms and legs. There ARE consequences to what you do in life.

Anonymous said...

Lol... Your funny BC I was saying the same thing, like nooo not caricature...lol. But YES totally agree this bumb is a Menace to Society. He needs to be dry screwed in the behind with a wire brush.... Oh wait, he might like that. This tyrant is sickening, he will get what's coming to him, in the worst of ways.. FACT!!!

Anonymous said...

Just watched a TV program and saw this guy walk away from jail after serving a mere 4 years in jail.

What a terrible system that allows this repeat offender virtual impunity simply because he is rich.

Very bad inditement on the judiciary and the reluctance to dole out the appropriate punishment if the person in question is monies.

Granny said...

Couldn’t agree more. What goes around comes around. I pray he lives a long life rotting in his wheelchair.

Granny said...

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Unknown said...

Who is Shane Raglands mother?

Unknown said...

Who is Shane Raglands mother?

Anonymous said...

At some point bailing your kid out is not helping but enabling. This guy pleaded guilty to murder, to numerous dui’s. The parents are guilty as he is. They have ruined lives and taken a life.

Unknown said...

AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. MY WIFE'S EX IS A SOCIOPATH EITH RICH PARENTS. HAS A SISTER WHO FIXED BOOKS PRIOR TO DIVORCE!!! CROOKED LAWYERS AN JUDGE FROM TENNESSEE. EX ALSO, BEAT HER FOR YEARS, BEAT 10 YR. OLD SON, THATS WHEN SHE LEFT EX. THEN, DURING VISITATIONS MOLESTED 3 YR. OLD TOOK WEEKS OF VISITS WITH A CHILD PSYCHIATRIST TO PROVE IT. A FEW YEARS LATER, EX PUT A BROOM STICK AND THEN A PISTOL UP HIS GIRLFRIEND'S VAGINA !!!! FINALLY, GOT LOCKED UP ON A FRIDAYAND COULD NOT GET OUT , UNTIL MONDAY, NO JUDGE HEARINGS ON WEEKENDS. AFTER 5 YEARS OF FIGHTING CHSRGES WITH EXPENSIVE LAWYER OUT OF MEMPHIS, WAS SENTENCED TO MENTAL FACILITY , RIGHT DOWN ROAD FROM WHERE HE LIVES AT WESTERN STATE MENTAL IN WHITEVILLE,TN (BOLIVAR)HE IS AKA DEMON OF SATAN!!! CHARMS WOMEN, EVEN WIFES MOTHER, HER CHRISTIAN, MARRIED SO-CALLED BEST FRIEND, ETC. SO MANY,MANY STUPID WOMEN IN THIS WORLD, AMAZING!!! SHE NEEDS TO WRITE A BOOK AND MAKE A LIFETIME MOVIE ABOUT HER EX!!!