Fired deputy denies threatening inmate

After hours of witness testimony Wednesday, the Madison County Civil Service Commission did not rule on whether Sheriff John Mehr had just cause when he fired former Lt. Sylvia Anderson. The three-member commission will deliberate and issue a written ruling.

Anderson is accused of insulting and threatening an inmate at the Criminal Justice Complex on the night of Sept. 3 and the early morning of Sept. 4, according to testimony at the hearing. Witnesses said that Anderson called inmate Tobious Blackwell a monkey, and told him that she was going to kill him.

Anderson denied every allegation on the witness stand Wednesday. She testified that she was set up.

According to her attorney, Forrest Craig, multiple people had axes to grind against Anderson, including three inmates, Sgt. Victoria Cox and Capt. Tom Rudder.

"Lt. Anderson has always denied these allegations and to believe that they happened you'd have to believe the inmates," Craig said after the hearing.

Madison County Attorney Steve Maroney, who represented the Sheriff's Office at the hearing, continually argued that it wasn't a coincidence that multiple witnesses' stories all lined up about what happened that night.

"It's always important to have multiple witnesses who can corroborate events in a consistent manner, and that's what we were able to show today," he said.

What happened?

Anderson was the lieutenant on duty beginning at 1 a.m. Sept. 4. According to all accounts, Blackwell was being disruptive for hours.

Cox and Blackwell both testified to hearing Anderson call Blackwell a monkey while Anderson and Cox were making their rounds.

Blackwell continued to be disruptive, insulting and screaming at Anderson — witnesses said — so Anderson placed a piece of paper over the window of his steel door cell to calm him down, a common practice in the jail.

Security camera footage confirms this. There is no audio to the footage.

According to Blackwell it was then, as Anderson was taping the paper to the door, that she insulted and threatened to kill him.

Afterward Anderson walked toward inmate Johnny Wade's cell. According to Wade's sworn statement and the testimony of Austin Drummond, the inmate next to Wade, Anderson told Wade to "take care of him (Blackwell) for me."

Anderson denies she said anything to anyone. Craig argued that the video doesn't necessarily show Anderson speaking and said corroboration throughout the facility would be difficult to do.

"I think that it's physically impossible that they were able to hear the stuff that they said they were able to hear," Craig said. "I mean if one person can't hear through concrete and steel, unless they're Superman, then that's not going to happen."

Maroney said that no Sheriff's Office employee is allowed to behave in the manner in which Anderson is accused to have been acting.

"The allegations made consist of insults and threats to inmates, and that cannot be justified under any circumstance," he said. "That type of behavior, if demonstrated, could inject instability into the Criminal Justice Complex. It is not a situation where we need to arouse more passions."

The case was originally a criminal investigation. The Sheriff's Office presented the case against Anderson to the District Attorney's Office and was told to handle consequences "in house," according to Sgt. T.J. King's testimony. No criminal charges were filed.

Set up

According to Anderson's testimony, everyone involved had a reason to turn on her.

She said she had previously been assaulted by Wade in his cell, refused to call Drummond's mother while he was on suicide watch, gotten into an argument with Blackwell over the dosage of a prescription he was taking for depression, and was told by Cox that it was her fault that Cox was moved to the midnight shift at the jail. Anderson also said that Rudder didn't like her.

"We have offered proof that all of the individuals had an ax to grind," Craig said.

Craig also said that Anderson's testimony stands up better than the testimony of inmates.

Wade refused to answer questions at Wednesday's hearing, and Craig argued that his previous sworn statement shouldn't be considered, but commissioners allowed the statement into evidence.

Maroney said that it is doubtful that everyone involved in multiple layers would have nearly identical stories if it were a set-up.

What's next?

Civil Service Commission Chairman Daniel Taylor said that the commission would deliberate and make its decision in writing and submit it to both parties. That process could take up to two weeks, he said.

If the commission rules that Mehr had just cause to terminate Anderson, then she can appeal the decision in Chancery Court, according to Maroney. If the commission rules in her favor, Anderson would be hired back immediately and would be able to recoup lost wages.

Anderson was hired by the Sheriff's Office on July 1, 2003. She was suspended for two days in August 2014 after the Sheriff's Office said she mistakenly authorized the release of an inmate. According to her personnel file, she was previously suspended for one day in 2007. The complaint in 2007 was alertness.

The Civil Service Commission is in place to protect employees from wrongful termination. If fired, employees have the ability to appeal their case before the commission. Each side will have its say, and the commission will make a majority decision on whether or not termination was warranted. Of the three members, one is selected by the Sheriff's Office and two are selected by the County Commission.

A civil service hearing for a second terminated Sheriff's Office employee that had been scheduled for Thursday will be postponed, officials said. A new hearing date has not been announced for Vatisha Evans-Barken, a former criminal investigator with the Sheriff's Office.

Reach Tyler at (731) 425-9629. Follow him on Twitter @tyler_whetstone.