Sheriff sued for assault

Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge is denying accusations in a recently filed federal court lawsuit that he threatened to arrest and assaulted an EMT answering a call at the Whitley County Courthouse.
Teresa Lynn Kelsey, a Rowan County resident, filed suit March 21 against Hodge and the sheriff’s department involving an incident that allegedly happened on March 23, 2004, while she was treating a minor, who was in physical distress at the courthouse.
According to the lawsuit, Hodge allegedly demanded that Kelsey disclose to him medical information about the minor, but that she told him she couldn’t because of federal privacy laws regarding patient information.
“Defendant Hodge, either as an individual in abuse of the power of his badge, or under the policy adopted by him as Sheriff of Whitley County, threatened to arrest plaintiff, though under no particular charge or reason, and grabbed her by the pony tail in her hair, pulling her arm behind her back, and shouting that he was ‘taking her to jail,’ while slamming her bodily into a wall,” attorneys Edwin F. Kagin and Kurt K. Mohnsam wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleges that Hodge pushed her toward the courthouse stairs, causing her to fear for her immediate safety.
“Plaintiff suffered and will continue to suffer physical, economic, and psychological injuries on a temporary and permanent basis,” the lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit asks for a judgment against Hodge and the sheriff’s department for compensatory damages, including medical costs and loss of income, which would be determined by a jury, and for an award of punitive damages against Hodge and the department in an amount sufficient to “deter similar actions by similar actors.”
The lawsuit also asks for court costs and attorney fees.
Because the case is still pending, Hodge declined to comment on the matter Monday afternoon except to say that the FBI had investigated the allegations, and determined that there had been no civil rights violations.
Hodge’s attorneys also denied the allegations in an answer filed on May 2 in federal court.
“The defendants deny, however, that they have engaged in any act or omission that rises to a level of a violation of the laws of the United States or of the federal constitution,” the answer stated.
In the answer, Hodge’s lawyers admit that Kelsey did arrive on a call to the Whitley County Courthouse, and that Hodge was present at the time, but “deny the allegations that the alleged conduct occurred and that any duty was breached.”
“The defendants state that but for the actions of the plaintiff, the damages and injuries of which she complains, if any, would not, and could not have occurred,” the answer states. “The defendants state the plaintiff’s damages and injuries, if any, were not caused by the policy or custom of Whitley County, Kentucky, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and its members or Lawrence Hodge, Sheriff of Whitley County in their official capacities.”
Judge Danny C. Reeves has not yet scheduled a trial date in the case.