COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — A man suing the Cocke County Sheriff's Office after he claims an officer used "excessive force" during his arrest filed a new complaint Monday asking the United States Marshall to seize all electronic devices, which includes computer, server and video camera that Cocke County owns.
Body camera video obtained by 10News on Thursday shows the incident as it happened in February 2019 from the perspective of the officer who brought Jerry Miller into the Cocke Co. jail.
You can hear Miller exchanging words with corrections officer Kelton Townsend, 29, before Kelton appears to grab Miller by the neck and slam him to the ground with a loud thud.
Miller's lawsuit claimed he suffered eight broken ribs, a punctured lung, multiple hospitalizations and permanent injuries after Townsend slammed Miller to the ground.
The document alleges Cocke County officials knew about the incident stating "it cannot seriously be argued that Cocke County and its executive-level officials were not aware--given the use-of-force report and the transport of Plaintiff to the hospital from the jail--of this incident, it is almost certainly true that they were provided copies of the video and likely received them by way of attachments to emails, texts messages, etc."
The new complaint also said Cocke County officials saw the body camera footage but claimed former corrections officer Townsend's action was "justified or did not occur."
It asks for the metadata from every computer in the jail, mayor's office, sheriff's office, county commission and county attorney's office.
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In the complaint, Miller's lawyer stated "the hard drive on these computers will reveal which of these officials watched that video before they lied to this Court."
Miller had been originally arrested by the Newport Police Department after a domestic disturbance call. The arrest warrant said Miller's girlfriend told an officer he pulled wires out of the phone while she was calling 911 about the disturbance. She claimed there was never any physical contact, and Miller had been taken to jail on a charge of interfering with a 911 call.
He's suing Cocke County for $5 million plus additional damages. The case is set to be back in court on Oct. 27 and a trial date is set for Nov. 3 in Knoxville.
Townsend faces aggravated assault and official oppression charges and he is no longer on the force. He is being held on a $50,000 bond at the Cocke County Jail.
