Jury awards Brewer $6.2 million in lawsuit against Whitley County, Sheriff

 The nine-person jury began deliberations about 5 p.m. Wednesday and returned with its verdict about 8:20 p.m., finding that Brewer’s rights under the 1983 Civil Rights Act had been violated and that Hodge failed to appropriately supervise volunteer deputy Tony Ramey.

Though neither party asked for the jury to be polled, one juror told the court the finding for the plaintiff was not her verdict in the case.

After speaking with the attorney and the judge at the bench, the juror was dismissed and the remaining eight jurors were sent back to the jury room to deliberate.

They returned about 10 minutes later with a finding in favor of Brewer.

According to local attorney David Hoskins, the federal rules of civil procedure stipulate that a jury in a civil trial be made up of between six and 12 people unless the parties stipulate otherwise. However, the jury’s verdict in the case must be unanimous.

Tony Ramey went to Brewer’s home on Gilliam Ave. in Corbin on June 13, 2007 with his son, Perry to retrieve a Glock handgun that Perry Ramey had sold to Brewer.

The gun, in fact, belonged to Tony Ramey and Perry had stolen it before selling it to Brewer.

As a result of a fight that ensued, and the beating he said he received at the hands of Tony and Perry Ramey, Brewer suffered a one-inch gash in the top of his head. Corbin Police placed him in handcuffs when they arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call.

The lawsuit had been filed against Hodge and Whitley County because in the course of incident, Tony Ramey had identified himself as a Whitley County Sheriff’s deputy and he had identification signed by Hodge and a badge as proof.Tony Ramey was also named in the suit, but a default judgment had been issued against him prior to the start of the trial.

Brewer had argued that Tony Ramey overstepped his authority as a volunteer Whitley County Sheriff’s deputy. Ramey testified that he was not acting as a deputy during the incident but was trying to break up the fight between Brewer and Perry Ramey in which Brewer was getting the better of Perry Ramey and had identified himself as a deputy in an effort to stop the fight.

No charges were filed against Brewer, who was taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

As a result of the beating, Brewer testified that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, suffers seizures, has vision problems, walks with a cane and is unable to work.

Tony and Perry Ramey pleaded guilty to assault under extreme emotional distress in Whitley Circuit Court in April 2008.

Hoskins said as a general rule, after any post-trial motions are resolved, a formal judgment will be filed into the court record.

Once the judgment is filed, the defense will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal.