Joe Harris | Courthouse News Service



Veteran Says Counselor Got Him Arrested

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CN) – A veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder was without cause arrested and jailed for making a terroristic threat after he told a counselor in confidence that he thought about shooting a police officer who pulled him over, the vet claims in court.

Maki Juillerat, who served 17 years in the U.S. Army, sued the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, the Louisville Metropolitan/Jefferson County Government, Mayor Greg Fischer, Police Chief Steve Conrad, Police Officer Greg Mudd, and Veterans Administration employees Sonny Hatfield and Jaime Watts in Jefferson Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Juillerat says he sought counseling through the V.A. to help with his PTSD.











During a session on March 20, 2015, Juillerat told his counselor, Dr. Mary Sweeny, that he had thoughts about shooting Mudd after Mudd had pulled him over for a traffic stop. Juillerat claims he told Sweeny that he had no plan to carry out the shooting and promised that he would call emergency personnel is his thoughts progressed towards action.

On March 27, 2015, Hatfield attended a risk management meeting in regard to potential harmful behavior of V.A. patients. The lawsuit states that Hatfield was made aware of Juillerat’s comments at the meeting and emailed the Louisville Police Department to report the comments.



On March 31, 2015, Sweeney wrote in Juillerat’s file that, “Patient never said anything about killing the officer or anybody else,” that “He (Plaintiff) said he ‘thought about shooting’ the cop,” and that “(Patient) went on to say he had no intentions of doing this.”

On April 5, 2015, Juillerat was arrested by Louisville police and held in jail for 10 days. His charge of Terroristic Threatening was dismissed on May 7, 2015.

“Defendant, Sonny Hatfield, provided LMPD with the clinician, Mary Sweeny’s telephone number,” the complaint states.

“Defendant, LMPD, did not attempt to contact Mary Sweeny before arresting Plaintiff.”











Juillerat seeks punitive damages from Hatfield and Watts for failing to follow standard confidentiality standards, damages from Mudd for failing to follow proper police procedures and damages from the Louisville PD, Conrad and the Louisville/Jefferson County government for negligent hiring and training.

Neither Juillerat’s attorney, Gregory D. Simms of Murphy Associates, nor the Louisville P.D. responded to a reporter’s request for comment Thursday morning.

Published by Courthouse News Service.