Key Witness Fails To Show For Ethics Proceeding

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The key witness in the ethics proceedings against state Highway Commissioner Marc Williams failed to show yesterday.

Williams has been charged with a state ethics violation for allegedly trying to steer a Harrison County bridge project to a specific engineering firm.

Former state highway engineer Sam Beverage - who allegedly was told by Williams to bump up the proposal score by D-L-Z Incorporated of Frankfort - did not appear at the hearing.

John Steffen, general counsel for the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, said Beverage's lawyer Burl McCoy told him Beverage was on jury duty in West Virginia.

Steffen said court officials in West Virginia, however, told him there were no proceedings at the courthouse that would have required Beverage's attendance.

Guthrie True, Williams' attorney, said it was quote "a very curious set of circumstances."

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