The judge in Misty Noel’s criminal case has affirmed her July conviction and canceled a hearing on possible contempt and setting her plea agreement aside.
Judge Larry Medlock called the plea agreement into question after seeing a TV news interview which he said conflicted with her statements in court. In it, she said she didn’t knowingly commit the crimes she was charged with and that her husband ran the family’s finances. Noel said it was important to be able to tell her side of the story.
Noel, the estranged wife of former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, was sentenced July 3 after pleading guilty to 10 felonies for theft and tax evasion. She admitted to using funds from New Chapel EMS, an emergency services company her husband operated that received tax dollars.
Medlock wanted Misty Noel to answer to why she shouldn’t be held in contempt of court for false testimony.
In his order this week, the judge said he was concerned Noel was “attempting to inconsistently uphold her innocence while also seeking to plead guilty to felony crimes.”
But he said that after more research and review of legal information brought by Noel’s attorney, Bart McMahon, he agreed the court must “carefully balance all the constitutional rights of a criminal defendant, including their First Amendment right to free speech.”
He also wrote that “the Court does not seek revenge, only justice.”
Medlock said there may still be questions of law around what he called Noel’s contradictory statements in court and to the media.
But he said both sides wanted the plea to remain in effect. And to determine whether the statements amounted to false testimony would call for more court proceedings, further burdening the residents of Clark County.
“It appears as if the Court of Public Opinion, and in particular the Clark County Community, will have to decide the version of Ms. Noel they choose to believe,” he said in the order.
McMahon, Misty Noel’s attorney, said they’re happy with the outcome.
“We’re relieved by that,” he said, of the judge’s order. “She wanted it over, she wants to do her time [and] pay the restitution.”
Part of her plea agreement includes paying back close to $700,000 in restitution — more than $660,000 to New Chapel and nearly $30,000 to the Indiana Department of Revenue.
McMahon said Noel and her family want to get things settled and move on with their lives.
After the judge questioned Noel’s plea and whether she lied under oath, McMahon argued that according to case law, “once a plea is accepted, a judge is bound by it,” he told LPM News. He argued that “her statements out of court were not under oath and therefore the statements in court, under oath, controlled.”
Misty Noel’s case is part of a large investigation into the actions of her husband while he was sheriff and overseeing emergency services in the area.
That investigation and the people charged in it have garnered significant attention over the past two years. Jamey Noel is serving a prison sentence for crimes including theft, tax evasion and money laundering. Their daughter pleaded guilty earlier this year and has already served her jail time.
Three other people have been charged.
After Medlock challenged Misty Noel’s plea, her attorney filed motions including asking for a new judge, arguing hers was biased.
He filed a notice last week remanding those motions.
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