Attorney Dunfield’s 24 hours of court

Events on Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and Friday afternoon made for an eventful 24-hour span for local attorney, Dustin W. Dunfield.

The most dramatic events occurred in court testimony late Friday morning. Held in the associate circuit courtroom in the Vernon County Courthouse, the session was presided over by Jasper County Division II, Circuit Judge, Dean G. Dankelson.

“You came on over to where we were sitting in the restaurant and said to Lil, ‘Don’t you ever come into my driveway again,’” said Alexandria Query to Dunfield, as she gave testimony in a hearing for a permanent order of protection filed by Lillian Davis against Dunfield.

Query, a friend of Davis, was referring to an alleged incident in Dunfield’s driveway, on Tuesday, June 6, one at which Query was not present. She continued with testimony about an alleged incident in a restaurant on June 8 at which Query was present.

Dunfield asked, “And what did Lil say then?”

“She said, ‘I won’t,’ and then you said, ‘I’m going to blow your f------ head off,’” said Query.

Without a pause or change in expression, Dunfield asked what happened next.

“I was stunned,” said Query. “At first I didn’t know what to do but then I called 911.”

“What did you say first happened when I came over to your table?” asked Dunfield.

“Lil looked at you and said, ‘Please don’t ever flip me off again,’ and that’s when you told her not to come into your driveway again and threatened to blow her head off,” said Query.

Davis is the mother of Christina Ann Fetch. As determined in a 1996 lawsuit to which Dunfield entered an Alford Plea, Fetch is the woman with whom Dunfield had had intimate relations with while she was under age.

In her application for the permanent order of protection and in the hearing, Davis alleged that on June 6, she found herself going the wrong way and entered a driveway to turn around.

“Until I drove in, I didn’t know where Dusty now lives but when I drove in to turn around, he was outside, recognized me and flipped me off,” said Davis.

In the first part of his response — while seated across from the judge – Dunfield held up his crippled hands and said, “August 22, 1993. That was the date of my accident and since then I haven’t been able to flip anyone off. I don’t have the ability to hold just one finger up,” as he demonstrated his limited ability to move his fingers.

“I can hold a pencil, but only barely, and that’s it,” added Dunfield.

To further bolster his claim not to having done what was alleged on June 6, Dunfield called the Vernon County Clerk, Mike Buehler to testify.

After establishing how they knew each other and that Dunfield occasionally stops by Buehler’s office, Dunfield asked, “Do you recall on Tuesday of last week, at approximately around two o’clock, my stopping to see you in your office.”

“Yes,” said Buehler.

“You’re sure it was that day, June 6?” asked Dunfield, immediately adding, “Your daughter was there.”

“Yes she was,” said Buehler.

While not asking any questions of Buehler, Davis looked to the judge and said, “It might not have been him [referring to Dunfield] but it was his place and it was someone as tall as him.”

With the parties having nothing further to add, Dankelson said, “The court will take the issue under advisement and issue an order in due time. In the meantime, the initial order will stay in effect.”

The eventful 24-hours for Dunfield began on Thursday when he submitted his response to a March 6 lawsuit, filed by former Vernon County Prosecutor, Lynn Ewing. The suit seeks disciplinary action against Dunfield as an attorney.

The charges were not filed with the state bar association but are a lawsuit with the disciplinary entity of the Supreme Court of Missouri.

In 2014, Dunfield had filed to be the Republican candidate for prosecutor, to run against Ewing, the Democratic incumbent.

Ewing went to court, presented evidence from a previous court case and the judge ordered Dunfield’s name removed from the ballot.

The replacement Republican candidate, Brandi McInroy, defeated Ewing in the November election, garnering almost 80 percent of the vote and is the current Vernon County Prosecutor.

In a previous telephone interview, Ewing was asked if he had a personal vendetta against Dunfield.

Said Ewing, “When you become an officer of the court, your personal opinion doesn’t matter. It’s all about what the law says and when I took the case to the judge and showed him Dunfield’s Alford plea – which in Missouri is treated as a type of guilty plea – the judge had no choice. Anyone convicted of a felony is ineligible to be a candidate and that’s especially true when the office is the county prosecutor.”

Ewing said the irony here is that Dunfield is a lawyer and knows all of this.

Subsequently, Dunfield went to court and was able to obtain a judgment from then Vernon County Circuit Judge, James Bickel, which states Dunfield does not have to register as a sex offender.

Afterward, Bickel was asked if, in light of his ruling, Dunfield could, in the future, be a candidate for office.

Thinking of the Alford plea, Bickel said, “I suppose not.”

Dunfield’s eventful 24-hours concluded on Friday afternoon, across the hall from the morning session. In the circuit courtroom, Dunfield told 28th Judicial Circuit Judge, David Munton, his client agreed to plead guilty to a single C Felony charge of possession of a controlled substance.

The client, Alexander Trexel, is the plaintiff in the “Fight Night” lawsuit filed by Dunfield on May 15. Pleading guilty to the charge which landed him in jail and led to his lawsuit, Trexel was given a 5-year sentence with the Department of Corrections, to begin with in-jail drug treatment for 120 days.

Said Munton, “I will receive a report on his conduct in prison and their evaluation of him in drug treatment. Based on that I will make a decision as to what’s next for Mr. Trexel.”

As he left the order of protection hearing, Dunfield was asked if it’s been quite a 24-hours for him, Dunfield sighed and said, “Yes, it has and it’s not over.”

As of Friday closing time for the Circuit Clerk of Court’s office, Dankelson had not transmitted his decision. The state supreme court will take the submissions of Ewing and Dunfield under advisement and take action at a later date.

Corrections:

In this story, it was reported that Lynn Ewing filed a lawsuit against Dustin Dunfield, Ewing is a witness and did not file the suit. Also, he is quoted as saying “Anyone convicted of a felony is ineligible to be a candidate.” The quote should have read: “Anyone who has pled guilty to, been found guilty of, or convicted of a felony is ineligible to be a candidate.”