Senator’s alleged attacker pleads not guilty
BOWLING GREEN, Ky.—U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s longtime neighbor pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he assaulted the Kentucky Republican while the senator was mowing his lawn.
Rene Boucher only spoke to reply “yes sir” to a judge during a brief arraignment. He showed no emotion and kept his head down. Boucher faces up to a year in jail if convicted of fourth-degree assault.
Paul, who was not at the hearing, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that he suffered six broken ribs and has excess fluid around his lungs. The injuries have sidelined Paul from the Senate as he recovers at his home.
A prosecutor said after court that criminal charges may change because of the severity of the lawmaker’s injuries.
Warren County prosecutor Amy Milliken didn’t provide more details but said her office was working with Kentucky State Police and the FBI. She said the investigation “has not concluded.” BOUCHER Milliken declined to
discuss what could have caused the attack.
Boucher’s lawyer, Matt Baker, said the possibility of a federal charge “is a concern.”
A staffer with Paul’s office disputed media reports that the two men had a “longstanding dispute.”
“The Pauls have had no conversations with him in many years,” senior advisor Doug Stafford said. “The first ‘conversation’ with the attacker came after Sen. Paul’s ribs were broken. This was not a fight, it was a blind side, violent attack by a disturbed person.”
A friend of Paul’s told WKU Public Radio that she saw the senator after the attack and recounted his reaction.
“He said that when he got up, Rene said something like, ‘I’ve been trying to sell my house for 10 years and your trees are in the way,’” Alicia Stivers told the station.
Warren County District Judge Brent Potter set a pre-trial court date for Nov. 30. Boucher has been ordered to stay away from Paul and the senator’s family.
Boucher, 59, was released from jail on Saturday, a day after the attack, on a $7,500 bond.
Paul and Boucher have been neighbors for 17 years in a gated community.