Controversial Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has been order to pay $475,000 in damages stemming from an arrest in 2005. When Victor Hill took office in 2005, one the first things he did as sheriff was fire a couple dozen or more sheriff’s employees. The brother of the man Hill beat during the election, Mark Tuggle called Sheriff Hill’s office and left angry messages about the firings and demanded a meeting. The sheriff then had Tuggle arrested for making harassing calls. Tuggle was held nearly 30 hours.
Mark Tuggle decided to fight back and filed a Federal lawsuit against Victor Hill. In his lawsuit Tuggle alleged that Victor Hill violated his civil rights, the First and fourth amendments and the Sheriff maliciously prosecuted him. The jury found in favor of Tuggle on two of the three charges. The jury did not find Victor Hill guilty of malicious prosecution.
Mark Tuggle sued Victor Hill as Sheriff and as an individual; Clayton County may have to pick up some of the cost for the civil judgment. The judge has yet to determine how much Hill will have to pay in Tuggle’s attorney’s fees.
It’s kind of ironic and somewhat funny that Victor Hill was sued and lost over an incident that started at very beginning of his term as sheriff. Now that we are at the end of his term, his bullying has come back to bite him in the “you know where”. It’s just another in a long line of things that the Clayton County Taxpayers will have to pay for because of the sheriff.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Governor Sonny Purdue started an investigation to determine if Victor Hill has abandoned his post. It’s been speculated that Hill has been MIA since he lost his attempt at re-election in the August run-off. His staff insists that those reports are not true. The Governor has charged Harris County’s Sheriff Mike Jolley, Butts County’s Sheriff Gene Pope, and Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker to investigate the allegations.
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