A St. Clair County judge has denied a motion for a new trial for a former Ashville High School teacher convicted and sentenced for the second-degree rape and sodomy of one of his students. Circuit Court Judge Charles Robinson denied the motion filed by Pell City defense attorney Don Hamlin seeking a new trial or outright acquittal for Donnie McKay, 34, of Ashville.
Two months ago, Robinson sentenced McKay to serve 15 years for the rape of a 15-year-old student and another 10 years for the second-degree sodomy of the girl, who had consensual sex with the former Ashville High School teacher, according to trial testimony in August.
Hamlin contended the court erred in allowing the victim’s diary to be entered into evidence and Robinson spoke to jurors in the August trial without the presence of the defendant or his attorneys.
Assistant District Attorney Lamar Williamson said Robinson only addressed a procedural question from jurors, and only after defense attorneys gave him permission to do so.
Williamson said the judge never left the courtroom but only stuck his head into the jury room and, with the door open, answered the jury’s question.
In his order, Robinson agreed with Williamson’s version of what transpired in court that day, adding, “Neither counsel for the state nor counsel for the defendant raised any objection.”
Robinson also said in the order that the victim’s diary could legally be admitted as evidence in the trial.
“The juvenile female victim testified at trial about the facts of the case and that she wrote down the events in the diary as they took place,” Robinson wrote in his Dec. 19 order. “The diary was properly admitted under the hearsay exception allowing this type of evidence.”
Robinson denied both requests for an acquittal and a new trial.
McKay taught at Ashville High School for three years before this contract was non-renewed May 9, 2005, by the St. Clair County Board of Education. McKay also served one year as the Ashville High girls’ varsity softball coach while employed with the School System.
According to testimony, the teacher/student relationship began while McKay was still employed by the School System.
McKay was employed as a Locust Fork High School teacher and junior high school football coach with the Blount County School System when he was eventually arrested Oct. 20, 2005. The Blount County Board of Education placed McKay on administrative leave after his arrest, but McKay later resigned.
A jury convicted McKay of the rape and sodomy of his former student on Aug. 31, 2006, and Robinson sentenced McKay to 25 years in prison in early October.
