JCPD lawsuit settlement includes outside oversight of new sexual assault investigations

Yahoo

21-05-2025

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — More than 300 women and girls who reported sexual assaults to Johnson City police from 2018-2022 will get about $7,000 each from a class action settlement that's part of a broader federal civil suit against the city.
OUR FULL SEAN WILLIAMS COVERAGE
The proposed $4.2 million settlement also includes 'equitable relief' that lets plaintiffs' attorneys audit at least 15 Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) sexual assault investigations every quarter for two years.
Law enforcement analyst Eric Stanton said the additional element could be an important early step in the JCPD's efforts to regain community trust after a period marked by allegations of a serial rapist committing crimes in Johnson City with impunity.
'This is not home cookin,'' Stanton said of the equitable relief proposal.
'This is not bringing in your own people to do your own investigation, stuff of that nature. That's when people start having a lot of questions. So having an outside entity that obviously supports the victims … they're gonna make sure that everything is on the up and up.'
The class settlement, if approved, leaves just under $24 million for the nine original plaintiffs (and possibly others) in a case initially centered around suspected serial rapist and downtown Johnson City resident Sean Williams.
The City of Johnson City reached separate settlement individual agreements with those plaintiffs. Those aren't subject to judicial approval in that portion of the case, which included claims that Williams got away with multiple rapes due to police bias against women, corruption or both. A city spokesperson confirmed that the total amount the city's paying out is $28 million, only $1 million of which is covered by municipal liability insurance.
The entire class settlement agreement requires approval from U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough. The $4.2 million includes a requested $1.4 million for attorney fees and $135,000 in other costs aside from payment to class members. The city denies any wrongdoing in the settled case, which is being dismissed with prejudice as part of the settlement, meaning it can't be brought back to court.
The class settlement leans heavily on the so-called 'Daigle Report,' a police expert's audit of five years' worth of JCPD sexual assault investigations. Johnson City commissioners solicited that report in August 2022, two months after a separate, and still pending, lawsuit related to JCPD and Williams was filed by a former federal prosecutor.
Stanton called the settlement proposal 'a good thing' for the city, the JCPD and victims. He pointed back to Daigle's audit and its finding of 'shortcomings' that resulted in eight recommendations for changes.
'It allows now, as we go forward, hopefully prevents a tragic event like Sean Williams from ever happening again,' he said.
Eric Daigle and the Daigle Law Group found that JCPD engaged in an unconstitutional pattern and practice in its sexual assault investigations from 2018-2022, and JCPD is implementing changed policies and procedures as a result. The audit came in the wake of former federal prosecutor Kat Dahl's June 2022 federal lawsuit claiming her job assisting JCPD was terminated in retaliation after she pressed JCPD leaders to investigate Williams over sexual assault allegations.
The report, released publicly in July 2023, noted, among other findings, that JCPD had a number of 'certain investigative practices' that 'could negatively affect the quality and efficiency of their response to sexual assault cases.'
Daigle noted a common theme running through many of these weaknesses: 'JCPD's response to sexual assault was challenged based on gender-based stereotypes and bias.'
Daigle recommended a slate of changes, including the immediate adoption of a sexual assault response protocol developed by First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney shortly after he took office in the fall of 2022.
'It's cost the taxpayers a lot of money in the City of Johnson City, upwards of $350 per person in the city,' Stanton said. 'That's a lot of money, and so at the end of the day, obviously we want to make sure as government officials that we're doing business correctly, transparently and that we're protecting and serving everybody equally.'
The class settlement would accomplish something the City of Johnson City so far hasn't, despite a suggestion from Daigle that they do: an external check, spanning two years, on how they're doing implementing the changes Daigle recommended.
In addition to monetary relief, it spells out 'equitable relief in the form of improved procedures and a mechanism for oversight,' according to plaintiffs' attorney Julie Erickson's declaration in support of the motion to approve the settlement.
The proposed agreement notes that JCPD 'will continue to implement' its Sexual Oriented Crimes general order, 'or other amended or new General Order(s) that are consistent with the requirements of the United States Constitution.'
'The audits will serve as the basis for Class Counsel's monitoring of Defendant's compliance with the constitutional policing standards set forth in the SOCGO,' it adds.
That compliance will come under the scrutiny of the very people who sued, and the proposal calls for that equitable relief to have some teeth to it.
If the attorneys see any evidence that JCPD isn't complying, they will first inform Johnson City's attorneys in the case and 'make all reasonable attempts to resolve the issue prior to Class Counsel seeking relief from the Court.'
Stanton said the still-unfinished Williams saga — he was arrested in North Carolina in 2023 and found with incriminating evidence related to sexual assaults in Johnson City and is partway through various criminal trials — has had a major impact on the city that money alone can't rectify.
'These victims have already been victimized, and unfortunately, you and I cannot take that back, but this could hopefully keep future individuals from being victimized,' Stanton said. He added that he believes the current JCPD leadership is committed to Constitutional policing — something the city denies it failed to do in the settlement language.
Stanton said $28 million is a high price to pay for being able to make those kinds of claims. Plaintiffs also admit that winning their cases could have proven difficult and definitely would have been time-consuming, traumatic for plaintiffs and expensive regardless of the outcome.
'The piece of the pie that you and I will never get is what was in that discovery,' he said, referring to trial documents and deposition testimony.
'What was in there that caused the city and its attorneys to say, 'hey, we better settle this thing before we go to court because it's going to cost us a lot more than $28 million. But we also know there was no criminality (on the part of police) found so far in investigations.'
Stanton said it could take 'decades' for trust to come back fully, and that transparency and 'every day going in and doing the right thing' are the keys to that.
'The damage is done. Lives have been affected. People will never be the same again. But at the end of the day, where do we go from here? And we've got to fix these things, and this is a good first step. But that's just one step of many that's going to have to take place for the people of Johnson City and the citizens to have 100 percent trust in the police department and in the city.'
The two-year period would begin following McDonough's final approval of the settlement, which should happen before the end of the year.
Class members, estimated to number around 375, will be informed of the settlement, and those who don't opt out will receive checks. A website will also be set up. If a significant amount of awards go unclaimed, class members who did cash their checks could get another round of funds.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.