By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

The Fayette County Sheriff's Department has asked Judge Jack T. Camp to throw out last week's jury ruling in the wrongful firing lawsuit of a former department lieutenant.

A federal jury in Newnan last week found that former Lt. Joe Winn was fired for his actions after a 1997 traffic stop involving the late Beverley Watson's husband and ordered the county to pay Winn $15,000.

While the plaintiff is saying the verdict is vindication for wrongful termination, the defendants maintain the case is not over yet.

“He was asking for almost $300,000 and the jury awarded him only $15,000, so I can't see how this is any sort of victory for the plaintiff,” said Marvin A. Devlin, attorney for the Sheriff's Department. “The verdict for them was a slap in the face,” he said.

The eight-member jury, which included some Fayette County residents, reached a verdict late Thursday afternoon after a four-day trial, according to Bruce Miller, attorney for plaintiff Winn.

The defendants have moved for a judgment setting aside the verdict, and that has not been ruled upon yet.

Sheriff Randall Johnson declined comment Monday, saying that the case was not yet completed due to the request to set aside the verdict.

An 18-year veteran of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, Winn was fired in August 1997 after communicating with Lee Sexton, attorney for Jim Watson, about the traffic stop in July of that year. Winn was ordered by his superiors not to talk to Sexton, Miller said, after which he provided Sexton with a written affidavit detailing the events of the traffic stop.

Winn, a lieutenant at the time of his firing, went to work for the Clayton County Sheriff's Department as a deputy. “He had to start over at a much lower rate of pay,” said Miller.

The judge asked the jury two specific questions, should they find in favor of Winn:

” Was he motivated by a desire to report police conduct that he perceived to be inappropriate?

” Was he trying to avoid being sued or having to testify in a civil case related to the traffic stop?

The jury answered, “Neither of the above.”

Jim Watson was stopped by law enforcement officers July 2, 1997 while in his vehicle. He later alleged that the action constituted an illegal search and seizure and a civil rights violation. He filed a federal lawsuit in that regard, and Sheriff's Maj. Bruce Jordan counter-sued for libel.

A portion of Beverley Watson's remains were found in Fulton County last spring, more than two years after she disappeared. Fulton County authorities have not officially announced that her death was the result of foul play, and Jim Watson was never officially named a suspect by Fayette County authorities after her disappearance.

Both Watson's and Jordan's suits were thrown out earlier this year.

Jordan has previously said that the traffic stop took place after Watson allegedly drove slowly and repeatedly through the premises of the department. The windows of Watson's car, Jordan said, were illegally tinted, and it is also the policy of the Sheriff's Department to stop cars that drive slowly by the jail area because of the problem of contraband being tossed over the fence to inmates.

In the course of the traffic stop, Jordan added, a handgun was confiscated from Watson, checked and found not to be stolen, unloaded and returned to Watson. That procedure is standard for handling any handguns found on routine stops, Jordan noted.

Watson never refuted the charge concerning his windows. Winn performed the traffic stop at Jordan's orders, Miller said, and watched Jordan search the vehicle over Watson's protests.

Winn felt the traffic stop had no purpose but to harass Watson, and the tinted windows were just an excuse for Jordan to do so, Miller added.

Winn was approached by Sexton about a week later about the incident. Miller said that when the Sheriff's Department found out Winn had spoken to Sexton, Winn was ordered to remain silent. “He felt that was wrong,” Miller added.

Feeling that the matter was being covered up, Winn gave Sexton an affidavit about what he observed, Miller said, and was fired Aug. 11, 1997.

Winn then filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department. “The First Amendment says that a government office cannot retaliate against an employee for speaking out on a matter of public concern,” Miller said, adding that the jury agreed Winn's firing was an act of retaliation.

Winn did not ask for his job back, Miller said. “He wanted his record cleared, and he wanted a jury to declare that he was retaliated against for reporting what he perceived to be an abuse of police power.”

Now running for Pike County sheriff, Winn hopes local citizens realize his desire to see that justice is done.

“Mr. Winn just wants people to know that he feels this decision and the lawsuit itself shows that he is willing to do whatever it takes to report and wipe out any acts of police misconduct that he becomes aware of,” said Miller. “He had to sacrifice an 18-year career to stand up for what he felt was right.”

Sheriff's Department attorney Devlin said the jury decision was nothing of the sort. Winn was fired, Devlin said, “for disobeying the direct instructions of two of his superiors, period. The jury found that he did not do what he did to voice any sort of public concern,” said Devlin.

He said Judge Camp threw out charges in the lawsuit against Maj. Jordan and Sheriff Johnson as individuals, and also threw out a laundry list of charges against the county, leaving only the First Amendment question to be decided.

The jury's decision, Devlin added, “was contradictory.”