Senate Majority Leader H. Truman Chafin’s law firm dropped representation of a prisoner’s suit against Mingo County.

After the Daily News broke the story that Chafin’s law firm was representing a convicted felon against the county, the senator hired a media group to announce Tuesday that his firm will no longer represent the prisoner.

Chafin said in a press release from the Rainmaker Media group, “Because this case has been so highly politicized, I’ve decided to forfeit representation for this client.”

“It is in the best interest of the client and county that another attorney provide representation in this case,” he said. “Among the frenzy of the waning days of the Legislative Session our law firm made a quick decision to represent an inmate who was seriously injured as a part of a prisoners’ work program. In my duty as a state senator, the largest concern I hear from constituents is the ability to have access to affordable healthcare. And as an attorney who represents those who have been wrongly injured, it is my nature to fight to make sure someone has healthcare when it is needed.”

As reported earlier, Latitia Neese Chafin, an attorney for the H. Truman Chafin Law Firm as well as the senator’s wife, filed a complaint around 9:20 a.m. April 8 on behalf of client Robert “JJ” Warren with the Kanawha County Circuit Court. Warren was indicted by the January 2009 grand jury on three counts of delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance (cocaine) and one count of possession of that drug with intent to deliver. That evening, a Mingo jury found him guilty on two counts of drug-related charges.

Warren was listed as the plaintiff on the complaint filed by Chafin and the defendants were Judge Thornsbury, the Mingo County Commission as well as the West Virginia Department of Highways.

While on home confinement after posting bond for the charges, Chafin claimed as part of a “mandatory condition of his bond,” Warren was “ordered by Judge Thornsbury to report to the ‘Judge’s Work Program’ every morning.”

While working for the program, Chafin states in the complaint that on or about March 27, Warren was cutting trees on the side of W.Va. Route 49 near Delorme. As Warren stepped to push a tree over, another crew member turned with a chainsaw, striking Warren on his right shin, the complaint said. The complaint states the crew member was wearing a “splint on his arm as a result of another work-site injury, and it was clearly known to defendants that (Warren) was likely to be seriously injured or killed in this forced work situation.” Warren suffered a deep cut requiring many stitches, with possible damage to the bone, the complaint alleges.

While Chafin stated in the complaint the judge and county commission “misused” the work program on several occasions and in various ways, the senator expressed praise during the recent press release from the media group representative Larry LaCorte and cautioned the county to evaluate possible liabilities within the program.

“I have the highest regard for Judge Michael Thornsbury’s efforts to have a thriving work program which enriches our community with needed public works projects,” said Chafin. “But, as a watchdog of tax dollars, I hope taxpayers will never get slammed with a large lawsuit due to negligence or bad judgment from a prisoner, who gets injured from not being properly trained to use dangerous equipment.”

Thornsbury told the Daily News this was the first lawsuit in the program’s 13 years of existence, during which thousands of inmates have participated..

“I am extremely proud of the program and the work done over the years,” Thornsbury said. “The program has helped every municipality and citizens throughout the county. I am equally confident the county commission is also very proud of the program and it will continue to serve the people of this county.”

Vice-president of the commission, Greg “Hootie” Smith, said he doesn’t believe healthcare had anything to do with the senator’s firm filing the lawsuit.

“It is clear to me that their motives were strictly political because the Mingo County Commission will not allow the work program to be controlled or utilized for political purposes,” Smith commented. “Furthermore, the politics of this case is evident by Sen. Chafin hiring his public relations director of his campaign (LaCorte) to prepare a press release to try to explain to taxpayers of Mingo County why his firm sued them when he is supposed to be representing them as a ‘watch dog’ of their tax dollars.”

Mingo County commissioner David Baisden accused the senator of being the driving force behind the lawsuit in the WDN article published April 9. Baisden said he stands behind his previous accusations and said Chafin’s firm should never have taken a case against his home county.

“(Chafin) said it is highly politicized, he should have thought of that before taking the case of a known drug dealer,” Baisden said. “I believe he dropped the case for political reasons when he realized the good people of Mingo County are behind the work program. I repeat my previous statement to the senator – ‘shame on you.’”

Thornsbury said the program is completely voluntary on the inmates’ behalf with appropriate credit granted towards the prisoners’ sentence for work preformed.

“Anyone participating in the program must request permission as either a condition of probation, bond or alternative sentencing,” the judge explained. “It has always been and will continue to be a program that meets the needs of the county. Literally thousands of projects have been done from construction of fire departments, playgrounds for school systems, county building projects and dozens of illegal dumps cleaned up.”

The media firm’s Web site says the “Rainmaker team, led by some of the region’s best and brightest strategists in research, advertising, public relations and political consulting, is all about shaping, molding and changing perceptions.”