Unable to reach a prior settlement and with Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen still seeking a special prosecutor, Circuit Judge John Atkins said he had “no choice” Wednesday morning.
No choice but to vacate a July 24 trial date originally set for the former Christian County football coach Steve Lovelace and his defense attorney David Bundrick.
Lovelace is charged with theft by failure to make required disposition of property and theft by failure to make required disposition of property of more than $10,000, following the result of alleged incidents that occurred during his seven-year span as Colonels coach from January 2014 and December 2020.
However, things have been mired since the original indictment. Bundrick told the court that he and Lovelace were prepared for trial with several witnesses already subpoenaed, and also noted that he would be “shocked” if a special prosecutor would be prepared to try the case next week.
Bolen, meanwhile, reiterated with Bundrick and Atkins that under prior Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling, a felony pre-trial diversion was in the works.
In following conversation between Bundrick and Atkins, it still didn’t seem clear on whether Lovelace’s future career and retirement would be in limbo — should a plea deal be accepted.
Bundrick also confirmed that the case was at one point really close to trial, before Boling sought a continuance following the death of an unnamed witness.
In the past, officials with CCPS have ascertained that Lovelace converted between $500 ad $10,000 in funds and/or checks from the CCHS Football Booster and Quarterback Club for personal use. They further claim Lovelace unlawfully converted more than $10,000 in cash/checks that belonged to CCHS for personal use.
Lovelace was indicted by a Christian County grand jury in June of 2021. He resigned as coach in March 2021 — less than two weeks after CCPS leaders announced he’d been dismissed as athletic director.
Going into the 2023 fall campaign, he is an assistant coach and defensive guru for the Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado football team.
