The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford accused a top aide to Attorney General Ben Chandler of jeopardizing the criminal case against Gov. Paul Patton's chief of staff.

Lunsford on Monday pointed to a meeting that Chandler assistant Scott White had with Patton aides, including chief of staff Andrew "Skipper" Martin, to discuss White's possible judgeship.

Chandler, also a Democrat, is one of Lunsford's rivals in the May 20 primary.

Lunsford and his running mate, Lexington lawyer Barbara Edelman, also said the meeting with White might jeopardize the investigation of whether Patton violated the law by doing favors for Tina Conner, Patton's onetime mistress. Chandler's office is working on that probe.

Chandler's office, his gubernatorial campaign and Patton's general counsel, Denis Fleming, dismissed Lunsford's allegations.

"The real question is: Was that prosecution compromised in any way? And the answer is absolutely not," Chandler campaign spokeswoman Barbara Hadley Smith said.

Martin is among four men charged with breaking election laws in Patton's 1995 campaign. Their indictments were upheld by the Kentucky Supreme Court, but the defendants have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review their cases.

Lunsford's accusation stemmed from a meeting that White, head of Chandler's civil division, had with Martin, Fleming and Patton appointments director Bill Beam Dec. 18. Fleming said White inquired about how he might be appointed to a vacant family court judgeship in Fayette County, and asked that Martin join the meeting.

Beam and Fleming said they explained that a Patton-appointed commission would propose three candidates for Patton to choose from, and they made no commitments. Fleming said no other issues were discussed in a meeting that lasted no more than eight minutes.

The commission nominated White, but Patton did not appoint him.