Documents recently filed in Christian Circuit Court outline alleged false statements made by Hopkinsville Police Lt. Jefferson Alexander to a grand jury considering the case of former Hopkinsville City Councilmember Ann Cherry in 2012.
Alexander is under indictment for first-degree perjury and the FBI alleges that on August 17th, 2012, he gave false testimony when he was the only sworn witness before a grand jury that eventually indicted Cherry on charges of tampering with a witness, tampering with public records, and second-degree official misconduct.
The Hopkinsville Police Department alleged Cherry hindered their investigation into the ‘Southside Prowler’ case by using her official capacity as a member of council.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling filed a ‘bill of particulars’ at the request of attorney Eric Eaton last week and it details alleged misstatements by Lt. Alexander.
Boling says Lt. Alexander was not telling the truth when he testified that Cherry convinced a witness to change her story regarding the suspect’s race and when he said she tampered with a witness. The witness reportedly says she was never pressured by Cherry to change her story, according to the court filing. Boling also asserts Alexander testified regarding a written description of the suspect provided by the witness that does not exist.
Lt. Alexander reportedly testified that Cherry impaired the availability of records in the case—which was a video surveillance recording of the suspect. Boling writes the Hopkinsville Police Department actually received the video from Cherry. He also writes allegations made by Alexander under oath that the video was tampered with by Cherry were false.
Boling alleges Lt. Alexander would respond with “correct” or “yes” when former Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pryor would make false statements regarding Cherry during his 2012 grand jury testimony.
Cherry accepted a deal in 2013 that required her to step down from her council position and to never run for election to council or for mayor of Hopkinsville in the future. The charges were dropped under the agreement.