Harvel trial continued
Apr. 18—The federal trial of a former Cumberland County official is again on hold due to a scheduled move to a new federal courthouse.
According to the order from federal Judge William L. Campbell Jr., the move to the new Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in Nashville will require a two-week interruption of the court proceedings, which were set to begin April 26.
"[T]he anticipated two-week interruption from the move to the new federal courthouse increases the risk of jurors not retaining information," Campbell wrote in the order.
Defense attorneys had also sought a delay to investigate four new witnesses the prosecution intends to call.
The trial is now set for Dec. 6, 2022, with a pretrial conference Nov. 28.
Harvel remains in federal custody pending trial on charges of civil rights violations for sexually assaulting women he supervised during his tenure as Cumberland County Solid Waste Director from 2014-'18.
In July 2021, a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against Harvel, and a superseding indictment in November 2021 added two additional charges.
The indictments listed eight victims who alleged incidents of sexual assault and kidnapping from November 2015 through July 2017.
One charge, kidnapping, was dismissed in March as prosecutors said it was likely barred by the five-year statute of limitations.
In March, prosecutors notified defense attorneys they intend to bring evidence of additional acts of sexual assault allegedly committed by Harvel, with four new witnesses.
These are uncharged allegations not included in the indictment.
Defense attorneys noted the disclosure of the four witnesses and asked for time to investigate the allegations.
Harvel's attorneys have also sought to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment, arguing that several charges are barred by the statute of limitations while others lack specificity or an offense under federal criminal statutes.
The indictment alleges Harvel sexually assaulted multiple victims who worked under his supervision at the county recycling center, several of whom were previously sentenced to court-ordered community service at the site. Defense attorneys say the federal indictment fails to show that Harvel was "acting under color of law" when the offenses took place.
The other counts are barred by a five-year statute of limitations, they argue, because the crimes are not "capital" crimes punishable by death, and federal law only authorizes the death penalty for crimes where a death occurs.
The indictment was filed July 12, 2021, and the violations charged in counts 2-6 allegedly took place in 2014 and 2015.
Harvel was removed from his position in 2018.
The motions are pending before Campbell.
Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.
