The trial in the perjury case against former Hopkinsville Police Officer Jefferson Alexander got underway Monday afternoon after a jury was seated.
A grand jury indictment was returned in March of 2019 against Alexander for first-degree perjury and stems from an FBI investigation which brought allegations that on August 17th, 2012, he 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. In his opening statements, special prosecutor Jim Lesousky accused Alexander of lying to the grand jury that led to Cherry’s indictment, saying the Hopkinsville Police Department was angered by actions she took during the ongoing investigation.
He says there was never any evidence that Cherry coerced a witness into changing their testimony about the identity of the prowler, or failed to provide police with video footage.
Defense attorney Eric Eaton argued that this current case is not about Ann Cherry, it’s about what Alexander meant when he testified to a grand jury ten years ago.
He says the jury will hear from former Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pryor that she asked complicated, often compound questions that prompted certain types of answers from Alexander.
Ann Cherry took the stand in the afternoon as the first witness of the trial and she defended her actions in 2012, saying she had tried correct what she thought was an error in the description of the suspect and shared the information with her neighborhood watch so they could be aware.
Trial is set to continue Tuesday morning.