Binion sentenced to 12 years in prison for stabbing

By Jeremy D. Wells

The Carter County Journal

An Olive Hill woman was sentenced Monday afternoon to 12 years in prison for assaulting two men for no reason in January 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 part of the blade in the wound, will receive $2,000 in restitution. Clyde, who suffered a cut to his face, will receive $1,000 for his injuries.

According to police reports from victims and eyewitnesses, Scottie and Clyde were talking to Binion in the parking lot when she pulled out the knife and attacked them without provocation. Surveillance video of the incident appears to corroborate that account. Olive Hill Police Chief Bruce Palmer said at the time that the blade broke off about three to four inches into Clifford's wound.

Phillips also ordered Binion, once he completes his sentence and is released, to avoid any contact with his victims or their families and to continue to undergo regular mental health evaluations and treatment.

Binion was sentenced to five years in prison for each of the two assaults, and an additional two years for fleeing and eluding police. Those sentences were all to run consecutively, with a 60-day sentence for the resisting arrest offense to run concurrently with her other sentences.

The sentence is part of a deal that saw Binion plead guilty last month to amended charges of first- and second-degree assault while under extreme emotional distress. The amendment changed the charges from a Class A felony punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison and a Class B felony punishable by five to 10 years in prison, to a pair of Class D felonies punishable by up to five years in prison each.

The judge also referenced Binion’s criminal history — which included drug and violence-related arrests — and how it related to his mental health issues during his sentencing. She urged Binion to take advantage of any counseling and medical advice that would be available to him while he was incarcerated.

“I hope you get the help you need,” Phillips told Binion.
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