Trial delayed in alleged threats to anti-LGBT delegate case

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A trial has been delayed for a Virginia man accused of threatening a West Virginia delegate who equated the LGBTQ community to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Monday bench trial for Jonathan George Benfer was delayed over several oversights.

The absent Republican Delegate Eric Porterfield said he wasn’t informed of the court date; County prosecutor Chuck Miller confirmed that was a clerical error.

Benfer’s attorney said he never received the slur-laden voicemail that his client allegedly left Porterfield in the days after Porterfield used the slur during a hearing and made other offensive comments. Additionally, the judge learned Monday that the officer who wrote Benfer’s criminal complaint is on family medical leave.

Meanwhile, Benfer appeared in court, having driven up from Washington, D.C., to attend.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, http://wvgazettemail.com.