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Defendant’s drug test result draws rebuke from judge

By Nathan Baker

“You stood right there and lied to me,” Judge Robert Cupp told a man Monday who minutes before had assured the judge his recovery from burns suffered in a meth lab explosion had led him to change his ways.

Jeremiah Joe Hopson, 34, injured last spring in what police said was a meth lab explosion behind his west Carter County home, pleaded guilty Monday in Criminal Court –then wound up in police custody after deputies said he failed a court-ordered drug test.

Hopson had admitted to initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine before Cupp for a pre-arranged 9-year sentence and a $2,000 fine.

During routine questioning before his plea could be accepted, Hopson assured the judge that the painful recovery had prompted him to change his ways.

“That day was the last time,” he said. “I don’t want to end up there again.”