The possible dismissal of the perjury case against Hopkinsville Police Lt. Jefferson Alexander is currently under advisement, after arguments were heard in Christian Circuit Court Monday.
Alexander appeared with defense attorney Eric Eaton, who says that Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling’s reasons for bringing this case against Alexander were political in nature.
He says those reasons, along with using facts for improper purpose, are grounds for dismissal. Special prosecutor James Lesousky argued that every Commonwealth’s Attorney has the right to bring charges where they feel necessary, and there’s nothing to suggest the motives are political.
After hearing the arguments, Judge John Atkins says he needs more time to consider sources and case law before coming to a decision.
He will allow three weeks for both sides to file written motions and arguments, and set the next pretrial conference for May 20—he plans to have come to a decision by then.
As previously reported, a grand jury indictment for first-degree perjury stems from an FBI investigation which brought allegations that on August 17th, 2012, Lt. Alexander gave false testimony on three occasions when he was the only sworn witness before a grand jury that indicted former Hopkinsville City Councilmember Ann 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.
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.
Boling brought the case against Alexander to the grand jury in March of last year, but hasn’t appeared in Christian Circuit Court since news broke that he wrote a controversial letter to former Governor Matt Bevin on behalf of convicted sex offender Dayton Jones as Jones sought a pardon. Boling accused former Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pryor and others in the court system of conspiring against Jones for political reasons in the letter.