By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
An Olive Hill woman was handed a sentence of 12 years on Monday afternoon for her unprovoked attack of two men in January of 2023. Judge Rebecca Phillips also ordered Billie Binion to pay a total of $3,000 in restitution to her victims, Clifford “Scottie” James and Clyde James. Clifford, who Binion stabbed in the shoulder with a knife, breaking off a portion of the blade in the wound, will receive $2,000 in restitution. Clyde, who suffered a cut to the face, will receive $1,000 for his injuries.
According to police reports from the victims and eyewitnesses Scottie and Clyde were engaging in conversation with Binion in the parking lot when she pulled the knife and attacked them without provocation. Surveillance video of the event appeared to corroborate that testimony. Olive Hill police chief Bruce Palmer said at the time that approximately three to four inches of the blade broke off in Clifford’s wound.
Phillips also ordered Binion, upon completion of her sentence and release, to avoid all contact with her victims or their families and to continue to undergo regular mental health evaluations and treatment.
Binion was sentenced to five years each for the pair of assaults, and an additional two years for fleeing and evading police. Those sentences were all set to run consecutively, with a 60 day sentence for the misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest set to run concurrently with her other sentences.
This sentence was part of a deal that saw Binion plead guilty last month to amended charges of first and second degree assault under extreme emotional disturbance. That amendment changed the charges from a Class A felony punishable by ten to 20 years, and a Class B felony punishable by five to ten years, to a pair of Class D felonies punishable by up to five years each.
The judge also referenced Binion’s past criminal record – which included both drug and violence related arrests – and their relation to her mental health struggles in her sentencing. She urged Binion to take advantage of the counseling and medical advice that she would be offered while incarcerated.
“I hope you get the assistance you need,” Phillips told Binion.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
