Less than a month after being indicted, Warren County District Attorney General 43-year-old Christopher Robert Stanford of McMinnville was due in DeKalb County Criminal Court for arraignment Tuesday, January 7 but his attorney, Jeff Cherry of Lebanon entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Stanford himself did not make an appearance before Judge Wesley Bray. Cherry had filed and was granted a waiver of appearance and arraignment on behalf of his client.
Stanford’s next scheduled court date is April 7
The DeKalb County Grand Jury met Monday, December 16 in a special session and returned a sealed indictment against Stanford charging him with reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm into an occupied habitation stemming from a shots fired incident near Bell Street Apartments in Smithville during the apprehension of three suspects in a Warren County triple homicide in November.
In earlier media reports, Cherry said Stanford acted in the moment after witnessing a triple murder suspect injuring an officer with a vehicle while trying to evade arrest.
Prosecutors said there was no imminent threat, and that Stanford put other lives at risk.