(LEX 18) — In federal court in Lexington Tuesday, jurors heard opening arguments in the case against former commonwealth’s attorney Ronnie Goldy.
Goldy's facing six counts of honest service wire fraud, six counts of violating the "Travel Act," and two counts of federal program bribery.
Goldy is accused of doing legal favors for a criminal defendant, Misty Helton, in exchange for nude photos and videos of her. The case came to light after an attorney released hundreds of Facebook messages allegedly between Helton and Goldy.
Federal prosecutor Andy Boone said in his opening arguments Tuesday that an FBI investigator verified the legitimacy of the Facebook messages that jurors will be shown at trial.
He said that Goldy and Helton met when Helton was a defendant and that Helton was 19 or 20 years old at the time.
Boone also lined out witnesses that will testify for the government’s case, including police officers, judges, and Goldy’s successor, who once worked as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in his office. Helton will also take the stand, he said.
Goldy’s attorney, Michael Curtis, told jurors that the messages will not show Goldy asked for explicit photos or videos in exchange for court favors. He went on to say that Goldy believed he might be related to Helton and had been trying to help her since she had a difficult upbringing and “no guidance.”
Curtis argued that while the messages may be immoral, that does not mean that they were against the law.
During jury instructions, Judge Danny Reeves mentioned that for the jurors to find Goldy guilty of the bribery charges, there must be proof that what he received had a value of $5,000 or more.
In his opening arguments, Boone mentioned multiple times that the messages between Goldy and Helton will show that Goldy’s enthusiasm for the photos and videos from Helton prove that they were of value to him.
The trial is expected to take several days, with witness testimony beginning Tuesday afternoon.
