Monday, June 16, 2008

Fayette jail whistleblower testifies under oath

In written court documents from his civil suit Fayette jail whistleblower John Vest (plaintiff) shed light on where the scandal is going next.

Some goodies --

I call this one "naming names."
"Plaintiff has identified the following potential witnesses to testify at the trial of this matter: Teresa Isaac, Jim Newberry, Rebecca Langston, Tim Bennett, Ashley Case, Ron Bishop, James Kammer, Capt. Brian Proffitt, Debbie Shouse, Capt. Suzanne Whittlesey, Lt. Kristine Lafoe, Sgt. Anthony Estep, Sgt. John McQueen, Lt. Shawn Campbell, Tonya Roberts, Clarence McCoy, Scott Tyree, John Steward, Phillip Chumbley, Kenneth Isaac."

Don't forget that the federal investigation is not over:
"Plaintiff has been and still is cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice with respect to a criminal investigation into civil rights violations at the LFUCG Detention Center."

And if you are wondering what role former Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac plays in all this:
"Isaac published to the media that the allegations of Vest were unfounded."

This is a very important point. Isaac can lie to the media about a lot of things, but when she tells the media falsely that someone else has lied to federal investigators, well that is a horse of a different color.

The Lexington Herald Leader reported September 29, 2006:
"We're absolutely convinced that the investigation will show there's no violations," Isaac said yesterday.
There have not been any incidents of excessive force at the jail, Isaac said. "I've reviewed the same records they've reviewed, there's absolutely nothing in there that would amount to a civil rights violation and I've been a civil rights attorney for 25years so I think I would know."

Isaac made her implausible assessment a day after federal agents removed hundreds of boxes of documents from the facility.
"Isaac's defamatory statements were made intentionally, with malice, with utter disregard for the truth, and made though she knew that her statements in this regard were false because she could not have reviewed all of the evidence seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Department of Justice at the time of her statements."

And here is where it starts getting fun:
"... in a malicious attempt to discredit the Plaintiff, Defendants Isaac and Bishop falsely reported publicly that over the past three years, the Plaintiff had been guilty of the same type of excessive force violations that he had reported to the FBI."