Judge thinks grandpa lied on witness stand

Calling the entire situation ?sickening,? General Sessions Judge Larry Ross sent a young man to jail Tuesday after finding he had convinced his grandfather to lie for him after a drunken confrontation with police.

?The sickening thing about this is he let his grandpa, the man who cares more about him than anyone in the world, get up here and get on the verge of lying under oath,? Ross said in finding James A. Ballew II guilty of underage drinking and resisting arrest. ?I?m giving him 48 hours because this young man needs to know what the inside of a jail looks like. You so much as sneeze and you?ll be violated.?

The judge?s ire was raised when Ballew?s grandfather, Howard Taylor, took the stand and disputed the testimony of McMinnville policewoman Lisa Norris.

During her testimony, Norris said she found a drunken Ballew wrestling with his grandfather inside a car in the garage after the grandfather tried to stop him from driving drunk. Norris said she tried to prevent Ballew from leaving the area, by grabbing his arm, at which time the policewoman placed him in a hammer lock, pushed him up against the wall and placed him into custody.

Norris said Mr. Taylor was bleeding from the confrontation.

?This officer pretty much manhandled my client,? said defense attorney Steve Roller.

Taylor maintained there was never a tussle with his grandson and that he was never bleeding. He said instead he was trying to help his drunken grandson inside when the officer intervened.

A witness to the incident, Jarred Marsh, a friend of the suspect, failed to shed much light on the incident. Marsh said he stopped by after checking out early from school but was unable to recall many of the details of the incident, which happened just last month.

?Sounds like you need to be staying in school instead of checking out early,? Ross said given the teen?s lack of memory.

In issuing judgment, Ross said he had no doubt Ballew, who has lived with his grandfather most of his life, had convinced his grandfather to lie for him to keep him out of jail.

?It?s highly unlikely this officer would see three people standing in a garage and stop and take one into custody for just standing there,? Ross said of the holes he found in the defense?s story.

Ballew will serve 48 hours of a six-month sentence, perform 32 hours public service work and pay a $50 fine for the incident. The judge dismissed the more serious charge of domestic assault given the grandfather?s reluctance to push the issue.