Federal judge dismissed slander lawsuit against Sheriff’s deputy

Two men accused by authorities and later exonerated of fighting dogs at a southern Laurel County home in mid-2008 are appealing a federal judge’s ruling dismissing a lawsuit they filed against the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department and the Deputy who arrested them.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in London Aug. 12, 2009, Joe C. Lewis Jr. and Dalton Brewer accused Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Sapcut, both individually and in his official capacity, of wrongfully convincing a grand jury to indict them for animal cruelty. Both men, and Lewis’ son, Joe Lewis III, were indicted by a Laurel County Grand Jury on one count of first-degree animal cruelty. Prosecutors dropped the charge against Joe Lewis, Jr. Brewer and Joe Lewis III were acquitted last June. They were claiming malicious prosecution and slander against Sapcut in their lawsuit.

But after two years of legal wrangling, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. VanTatenhove dismissed the case after the defendants asked for a summary judgment in the matter, claiming current law and legal principals made Sapcut and the Sheriff’s Department immune from prosecution. The case was dismissed Aug. 8.

Brenda Popplewell, attorney for both Lewis and Brewer, filed a notice of appeal on Aug. 24 and plans to challenge VanTatenhove’s judgment in the Six Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Attorneys for Sapcut and the Sheriff’s Department have filed motions seeking nearly $40,000 in attorney fees from Lewis and Brewer, and about $5,000 for other costs related to the case.

Sapcut and other officers went to a home on Adams Road in Laurel County the night of June 24, 2008 after a neighbor called 911 claiming Joe Lewis III and Brewer were fighting pit bulls in their backyards. The two claimed they were simply separating their dog "Crown" from a stray that had wandered into the yard.

Joe Lewis Jr., a resident of Bell County, was visiting his grandson at the home and was spending he night.
All three were indicted Aug. 15, 2008 and a warrant for their arrest was executed Aug. 22.

Both men claimed Sapcut propagated false stories that the two men were part of a dog-fighting ring and that they fought dogs regularly for amusement. They also accused him of undertaking an inept criminal investigation into the matter.

"Defendant Sapcut took a weak and poorly investigated case and fabricated a fictitious, grandiose dog fighting ring – including sixty-seven dogs – and convinced the Grand Jury to indict the Plaintiff," their lawsuit states. "Defendant Sapcut intentionally and negligently investigated the case, intentionally and negligently prepared a police report, intentionally and negligently testified falsely to the grand jury, and intentionally and negligently testified falsely to the jury – all causing Plaintiffs to be arrested and prosecuted."

The lawsuit quotes recordings from Grand Jury testimony in which Sapcut tells jurors Brewer was "well known for dog fighting in Whitley County" and that he had "reports from the Whitley County animal shelter that Mr. Brewer" had been fighting dogs at a church in the county and that dead dogs, the losers of these fights, were found behind the church.

Popplewell characterized the statements as "bizarre, disgusting and untruthful" and contends he should have known his case was too weak to take to the grand jury.

The lawsuit claimed the men have suffered mental and physical anguish because of the charges. Brewer claimed to have paid $20,000 for his criminal defense at trial.

The lawsuit also sought compensation for "defamatory statements" made by Sapcut regarding the two men.

Brewer won a $5 million police brutality against Whitley County after a jury trial in U.S. District Court last year. He claimed he was beaten by a deputy from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department during a dispute over a gun. Following the judgment, both sides settled the case for a sum presumably less than the initial judgment in order to avoid appeals.