Wanda English Burnett
Editor

A former Milan deputy marshal began a sentence in Franklin County Security Center after his involvement in a battery that occurred last summer at Happy Valley, a campsite in Franklin County.
Steven R. Noble, 38, of Sunman, was sentenced recently by Judge J. Steven Cox, Franklin Circuit Court Division I. The initial charge of Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, a Class C felony, was reduced to Battery, a Class A misdemeanor as Noble’s attorney struck a plea agreement with the court.
Noble was sentenced to one year of incarceration with six months of that time suspended.

According to police records, the incident occurred around midnight on June 8, 2008, when Noble and the victim argued over a generator that belonged to Noble. Witnesses for the victim, said he had listened to Noble’s generator for a long period of time during a blue grass festival. The records indicate the victim picked up the generator to position it to minimize the noise level coming from the muffler.

As always there’s two sides to the story and witnesses with the Noble group said the victim threw down the generator and damaged it.

The victim said Noble threatened him and told him “I’m going to show you what will happen if you touch my stuff again.”

According to information published in the Brookville Democrat, Noble hit the victim twice in the face, once in the nose and once in the jaw. The victim’s jaw was broken in three places and had to be wired shut. Several witnesses said Noble hit the victim in the jaw area with his elbow. It was also noted that someone pulled Noble off the victim.

Noble says the victim made a motion to hit him and he was just defending himself.

As part of the plea agreement, Noble was ordered to pay over $12,000 in restitution to the victim.

Noble served as a police officer in Ripley County as the Osgood Town Marshal from October 1993 to May of 1998; and Sunman Town Marshal from 1998 to May of 2003, according to town clerk-treasurers. He was currently serving as a deputy marshal for the town of Milan at the time of the incident.

According to Ripley Publishing Co. files, Marshal Gary Skaggs suspended Noble with pay (pending an investigation for 30 days) shortly after the incident in Franklin County. Noble then requested a personal leave of absence, which he was granted, according to the marshal. He was employed July 10 of 2006 until July of 2008 with the Town of Milan.