The prosecution on Thursday presented their arguments against the defense’s motion to remove consideration of the death penalty from the case against Dustin Caudill, the Elizabethtown man charged with killing two men and then setting fire to the Henon Lane residence they were in in October 2024.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office called Hardin County Detention Center psych nurse Lisa Puckett to the stand. Puckett testified that the morning after Caudill was taken into custody she conducted a triage screening. Puckett testified that at that time she did not observe symptoms of bipolar disorder, and that he was “very forthcoming” and “very calm.” Puckett testified that while Caudill reported that he had used methamphetamine, he did not report any medication use.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office then submitted records on Caudill that prosecutor Teresa Young said showed “violent and disruptive behavior” from Caudill after he was incarcerated in the Meade County Detention Center, which she said contradicts testimony from Dr. Jean Hinkebein at the previous hearing in which she said that she did not believe Caudill expressed criminal behavior. Young said the record shows Caudill changed his story on the killing of his mother and brother several times.
The prosecution argued that the records do not show a diagnosis of bipolar disorder as frequently as the defense says, and shows a link between criminality and Caudill’s use of drugs and alcohol. The prosecution also submitted video of Caudill talking with officers prior to being taken into custody and his initial interviews with police, in both of which he admitted to using meth.
Hardin Circuit Judge Larry Ashlock took the arguments from this hearing and last week’s hearing under advisement, and said he would make a ruling on the defense’s motion by at least 90 days ahead of Caudill’s trial date of June 8.
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