It took less than 30 minutes for a jury to find retired Hopkinsville Police Lt. Jefferson Alexander not guilty of perjury following a trial that lasted parts of four days.
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.
Judge John Atkins again declined to issue a directed verdict at the beginning of the morning, saying the community is better served with the jury coming to a decision after hearing all of the evidence.
Defense attorney Eric Eaton urged the jury during his closing statements to examine the words of Alexander when he testified to that grand jury and to look at the complicated nature of questioning and he believes they’d determine there is reasonable doubt that Alexander perjured himself.
The jury began deliberations a few minutes after 11 a.m. and came back with a not guilty verdict at about 11:30.
Judge Atkins noted that Alexander’s record would be expunged immediately, having been exonerated of any wrong-doing.
Former special prosecutor Carrie Ovey-Wiggins attempted to dismiss the charges before trial, but Cherry invoked Marsy’s Law and convinced the Attorney General’s Office to take the matter to trial with their own special prosecutor.