Second lawsuit says Kentucky police framed person for murder
Source: Associated Press
Adam Beam, Associated Press
Updated 1:16 pm, Monday, May 22, 2017
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Tennessee man says he spent five years in jail for a murder he did not commit because a State Police detective and a former Kentucky sheriff lied to protect a man who was related to the detective and had bribed the sheriff.
William Anderson filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday that says former Knox County Sheriff John Pickard and Kentucky State Police Detective Jason York coached witnesses on what to say and even assaulted one man during a recorded interview for refusing to change his story. Anderson, 37, was acquitted of all charges by a jury last year.
It is the second lawsuit since April to accuse Pickard and York, among others, of writing fake police reports and fabricating witness testimony before a grand jury in a murder case. In both instances, people spent years in jail awaiting trial before being cleared of all charges and released.
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Another man, James Sizemore, pleaded guilty to the murder and is serving a 30-year prison sentence. Sizemore testified both he and Anderson had planned to rob Wiggins, who sold prescription painkillers. Sizemore said he hit Wiggins, but it was Anderson who stabbed him.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Second-lawsuit-says-Kentucky-police-framed-person-11164422.php