Lawyer charged as accessory in New Year's Day shooting, accused of concealing evidence
A West Virginia lawyer is facing a felony case after allegedly concealing evidence concerning a friend who police say shot a man after a New Year’s Day fight over pizza delivery.
Jamison T. Conrad, 37, is charged as an accessory after the fact, accused of taking a cellphone from his friend, alleged shooter Michael Dale Underwood II, 30, and hiding it in Conrad’s room at a Ramada Inn in Charleston. Conrad also encouraged Underwood to leave the scene without calling police, authorities said, and refused to give police Underwood’s name, which they got from other witnesses, according to WCHS.
Conrad “told us that he did know who the shooter was but he refused to tell us who,” said Lt. Steve Cooper of the Charleston police. “This is at a time when we thought we still had an active shooter on the run in a public place.”
Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said the 2 a.m. incident was captured on a surveillance camera. He said he was shocked that a lawyer would allegedly leave a shooting victim lying on the floor without calling police and then coach the perpetrator. Jones is considering filing a legal ethics complaint with the state bar, reports the West Virgina Metro News.
Conrad was charged with being an accessory after the fact to malicious wounding in the Kanawha County case and released on $50,000 bail. Underwood, who allegedly shot Charles Scott, 23, in the shoulder and thigh with a .40 caliber handgun, was charged with malicious wounding and is being held on $250,000 bail, according to the Charleston Gazette. Scott not only survived the shooting but has reportedly been released from the hospital.
Conrad is in private practice in Fayetteville and serves as mental hygiene commissioner for Fayette County.
WVVA also has a story.
