Morgan County District Court: Continuance in case for Log Lane Village Police corporal

Corporal Dalton Byers of the Log Lane Village Police Department appeared in Morgan County District Court at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 16 for a temporary order hearing. Byers did not have an attorney present at this hearing and was self-represented. The victim did have an attorney present. Judge Matthew Bradley presided over the hearing.

Bradley noted that the hearing was set for two hours, and he would try to make a decision on temporary orders within that time frame. He reminded those involved of his neutrality until hearing both sides of the situation and began the hearing by inviting Byers to make an opening statement if he so desired.

Byers said his main goal was to settle the situation for the sake of his two children, who he has not seen or contacted since his November 2021 arrest due to civil and criminal protection orders. The protection orders do not allow any contact between Byers and those protected, including texting, calling, writing or using a third party.

In October 2021, Byers had asked for a separation, but it was not until his Nov. 16 arrest (on a warrant for felony child abuse and crimes against an at-risk person) and its impending criminal case that Byers and the victim did actually separate. Byers is still employed by the Log Lane Village Police Department since his criminal case is ongoing and hasn’t been dropped.

The victim was called to the witness stand. She recalled how now-former Log Lane Village Mayor Robin Mastin was upset with both her and Byers for “ruining the reputation of Log Lane,” especially after the incident with former Log Lane Village Chief of Police Joshua Katz. The victim was told by Mastin that she would be evicted from the Log Lane home she shared with Byers in just two days. The victim paid three people to help her move in that short period of time.

The victim spoke about her marriage to Byers. Since the two married in March 2017, Byers took care of the financials as the primary wage earner while the victim took care of the children. However, for the five months Byers was attending the police academy, the victim was the primary wage earner, as well as the primary caregiver for their children. She would work night shifts at Walmart and return home in the mornings to care for the children, leaving little time for sleep.

While Byers said he encouraged the victim to make her education a priority, she said she had neither the time nor money to pursue her GED.

Since November 2021, she has not been given any financial assistance from Byers to aid in caring for her children or herself. From November 2021 to January 2022, she was aided by local shelters, victim advocates and community donations. Through gift cards and a check written to her for a home rental deposit and its first month of rent, she was able to move to a safe location and afford to feed her children.

In February 2022, the victim began working as a restaurant server, but recently her hours have been cut and range from about 11-15 hours per week at $13.50 an hour. Recent texts and emails from her manager were provided as evidence. The victim outlined some of her monthly expenses, like childcare, rent, propane for heat and cooking, gas for her car, insurance, phone bills and household essentials. The victim confirmed that her funds are spent solely on essentials and never on things like entertainment, recreation or memberships. However, she is still in debt and continues to accumulate over $750 of debt each month.

She estimated that about $100 a week is spent on childcare alone for her two children with Byers, but knows that price will rise to about $150 during the summer. She is asking for Byers to pay roughly $700 per month in child support.

Byers then shared what the past few months have looked like for him. He said he has been homeless for the past three months and has been living out of his truck. He has been paying about $700 a month for his 2016 truck, which is new to him. He also spends roughly $100 a month on entertainment, recreation and memberships. Byers said he only has a membership to a rec center in order to have access to a shower.

Since November 2021, Byers has continued to participate in recreational activities like Motocross with financial support from family and friends. He did not included gifts in his sworn financial statement. Byers is on leave from his job at the LLVPD and is currently working at Pioneer Sports but “can’t make the money (he) used to (make) due to the allegations.”

Much discussion was had about how tax returns and student loan money were spent. The victim also said she and Byers had planned to file their 2021 taxes together for one last time, but Byers ended up filing alone without her knowledge and claiming their children as dependents. Byers said about $3,768 was included in the children portion of the total $6,327 tax refund. He said he used that money to pay for bills and a lawyer.

A brief discussion regarding assets from the formerly shared home was put on hold by Judge Bradley, as he said it was not yet relevant.

Because the victim could prove her reduced hours and income, clear financial need and dedication to being the primary caregiver to the children throughout the entire marriage, the victim’s attorney asked that Bradley approve court-ordered temporary maintenance and child support from Byers.

Byers argued that no maintenance should be required due to “inconsistent statements” and said he “absolutely believe(s) in supporting (his) kids” but thinks it is wrong to be asked to take care of his children financially when he is not even able to call them. He restated that he currently lives in his vehicle and said that his hours have also been reduced to less than 40 per week. He also noted that there were some things he was unable to talk about in the hearing due to the ongoing criminal case.

Judge Bradley said cases involving families are always difficult, and he would take the matters under advisement. He said a final orders hearing would be scheduled and take about half a day.

Byers is hoping the final order will be set after his criminal case is closed in September. He plans to have legal representation at the next hearing.