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March 17, 2010

Dawn seeks to change guilty plea

Mark Millican Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — A personal care home manager who was sentenced to prison for stealing drugs from senior residents has asked for a hearing to change his plea to not guilty.

Wayne Hardwick Dawn, 38, of 3769 Cleveland Highway in Dalton, was sentenced in Whitfield County Superior Court in December to five years “to serve” and five years on probation by Judge Cindy Morris. Felony charges he pleaded guilty to included possession of hydrocodone and Darvocet. Misdemeanors pleaded to included possession of Tramadol, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, possession of a drug-related object, plus seven counts of reckless conduct and six theft by taking charges.

District Attorney Kermit McManus explained the process, which will begin with a court hearing on April 23.

“He has an absolute right to change his plea before the judge passes sentence,” he said, “but he doesn’t have that absolute right after being sentenced. But he can get a hearing before a judge to try to change his plea.”

Dawn, who is at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, is now represented by attorney Billy Spruell of Marietta. Spruell was asked why Dawn was changing his plea, and if it was due to new evidence.

“I’m really not at liberty to discuss that right now,” he replied. “The plea itself, it didn’t go the way he wanted it to go, let’s just put it that way. I did not represent him originally in the plea, so I think he was disappointed in the outcome. I mean, that’s not a legal ground, you understand, and I just can’t discuss the legal grounds.”

Dawn was also given a $3,000 fine, 300 hours of community service, participation in an alcohol and drug abuse program, random drug testing and special conditions including not being able to be around personal care facilities or nursing homes with residents over 65 years of age.

Dawn managed Pleasant Valley Assisted Living, a facility owned by his wife, at 510 Reed Road. He was arrested in October of 2008 after a resident’s relative raised suspicions and an undercover investigation was conducted by the sheriff’s office using audio and video surveillance. Sheriff Scott Chitwood said it appeared Dawn had been stealing the drugs for about a year.

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