Latest news with #DaigleReport
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Judge sets phone hearing on settlement in JCPD sex assault investigations case
Note: This article includes attached video showing News Channel 11's Jeff Keeling and Anslee Daniel's discussion of the Johnson City lawsuit settlement. An audio version is at the end of this story. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A federal judge won't rule on a proposed $4.2 million settlement between Johnson City and women who reported sexual assaults to its police department from 2018-2022 until after a telephone hearing June 24. U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough made the ruling Thursday, 10 days after plaintiffs' attorneys filed their motion for approval of the class action settlement. Johnson City and the plaintiffs' attorneys have already agreed to an overall settlement amount of $28 million. The bulk of that money will go to the original plaintiffs, nine women who said they were victimized by now-convicted sex offender Sean Williams and that the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) didn't adequately investigate the downtown resident. That settlement doesn't require the judge's approval, but the $4.2 million one does. It relates to an added element to the original lawsuit that came following release of the 'Daigle Report' — an audit of JCPD's sexual assault investigations the city commissioned in 2022 after a completely separate lawsuit related to Sean Williams was filed. That report found that while a number of JCPD's investigations between 2018 and 2022 were adequate, the department had a number of 'certain investigative practices' that 'could negatively affect the quality and efficiency of their response to sexual assault cases.' JC's new 'transparency' webpage covers police lawsuits related to Sean Williams 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.' The report, and the addition of a plaintiff whose reported assault did not involve Sean Williams, led to the filing of a class action that's now the subject of the settlement proposal. Johnson City has consistently denied all allegations in the lawsuits related to Williams and JCPD sexual assault investigations. The city also says JCPD has implemented the recommendations in Daigle's report and is following a new sexual assault protocol devised by First District Attorney General Steve Finney's office — an assertion Finney has confirmed. The class settlement would include both monetary relief — attorneys estimate about $7,000 to more than 350 people — and something called 'equitable relief.' Equitable relief would come in the form of plaintiffs' attorneys being provided audits of sexual assault investigations by JCPD every quarter for two years so they could review how well JCPD is complying with a new sexual crimes protocol it adopted in late 2023. The motion for settlement approval is complex, and McDonough wrote Thursday, 'a telephonic hearing will aid in the resolution of Plaintiffs' pending motion for preliminary approval.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
JCPD lawsuit settlement includes outside oversight of new sexual assault investigations
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.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Extra 2 weeks sought to finalize $28M Johnson City lawsuit settlement
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit against Johnson City related to sexual assault victims and complainants have asked a federal judge for two extra weeks to finalize a proposed $28 million settlement's details. PREVIOUS: Attorney breaks down $28M Jane Doe settlement related to JCPD Friday, attorney Julie Erickson, a representative for plaintiffs in the 'Jane Does' civil lawsuit, requested until May 19 to file their motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement. Funds from the settlement will be split into two pots, one for the class action group and one for the original plaintiffs. One, which does not require Judge Travis McDonough's final approval, goes to alleged victims of now-convicted child sex offender and former downtown resident Sean Williams. Those women are plaintiffs in the original suit, which was filed in June 2023. The other group, part of what had been a proposed class action, consists of more than 300 people who reported sexual assaults to the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) between 2018 and 2022. Less than two months after the original suit was filed, Johnson City released a report they had commissioned from the Daigle Law Group, which looked at JCPD's handling of all sexual assault complaints between 2018 and 2022. Eric Daigle and his firm found, among other things, 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.' Following the release of that report, the Jane Doe attorneys sought to add a class action to the lawsuit and open it to complainants from the Daigle Report period. The other amount — the totals for each pot of money haven't been disclosed — will be available for distribution among the roughly 325 women and girls who lodged any sexual assault complaints with the JCPD during the Daigle Report period. Erickson's motion says the parties began mediation in December 2024 and negotiated for two months before 'executing a term sheet' Feb. 13. The Johnson City Commission unanimously approved the proposal that night, 'understanding that ultimate approval authority is vested with the Court.' Judge Travis McDonough initially set a March 24 deadline for the plaintiffs to file a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement, then granted an extension to May 5. While the sides 'have been working diligently' for eight weeks to wrap up a final proposal, several rounds of drafts have required close review and client sign-off, Erickson wrote in Friday's motion. 'All material terms have been agreed on,' she added, but some details require additional time, 'including coordinating with the settlement administrator regarding various logistical procedures.' The plaintiffs, Erickson wrote, are trying to gain approval '(and secure payment to settlement class members) as expeditiously as possible.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citizens voice frustration during public comment on Jane Doe lawsuit settlement
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Citizens had the opportunity to speak about the Jane Doe lawsuit settlement during Thursday evening's Johnson City Commission meeting. The lawsuit was filed by women who claim to be sexual assault victims of convicted child predator Sean Williams. It claims the Johnson City Police Department did not fully investigate Williams, who is accused of drugging and raping dozens of women between 2018 and 2021. Nearly all of the $28 million settlement would come from the city reserves. DA speaks on pending Sean Williams rape prosecutions Mayor John Hunter said he wanted to hear what people had to say. Emotions ran high during the public comment section. Some who spoke said they want the city to take accountability and feel like more needs to be done to address the allegations of corruption. David Adams, a Johnson City resident, wants the city to conduct an internal investigation into the police department. 'It looks like there's an issue with officers who are still on the force,' Adams said. 'And I'm sure there are plenty of good people on the force who don't want that tied to them. But I want to know if there's bad people on the force walking out there. I've got a four-year-old daughter. I've got a wife, like, I don't want that in my community.' Adams and others who spoke said they would like a different type of dialog between city officials and the public. Instead of just public comment, they would like to have a back-and-forth conversation, like in a community roundtable, about the allegations. 'It's three minutes,' Adams said. 'You go up there, you talk, you don't get responded to. You know, you hope you can email them after the fact and get an answer. But as one of the other commenters said, you don't always get the answers back from the city.' Adams said it was a 'nice little first step.' 'You know, it seems more of a way for people to just vent out their frustrations,' Adams said. Mayor Hunter spoke to citizens after the public comment period. 'The department's deficiencies combined with the heinous criminal acts of Sean Williams could have led to a verdict in the civil class action lawsuit that was recently settled,' Hunter said. 'It could have led to a verdict totaling more than our entire city's annual budget. Settling this case eliminated that risk.' Hunter said the settlement represents the city's commitment to supporting the alleged victims and helping them move forward with their lives. He mentioned what the city has done to address the allegations. 'It's also important to know that last less than two weeks after concerns about Sean Williams came to light, the new city manager took steps to ensure transparency and accountability. She began looking for an independent expert to audit the police department, as has been mentioned, the Daigle Report. That action was swift and decisive to ensure our community was safe and that our police department was operating as in a way that was appropriate. This audit is and has been available on our website and the audit discovered deficiencies. And the city made sure they were corrected as quickly as possible.' Hunter mentioned that funds were approved to hire 21 police officers and create a special victims unit, the commission supporting the Children's Advocacy Center by funding an additional forensic interviewer to assist child victims of abuse who face the task of testifying in prosecutions, JCPD updating its policies and procedures to protect and support sexual assault victims, and more. He also addressed the TBI and FBI investigations into the JCPD saying they found no credible evidence of corruption, bribery, or criminal activity. 'But while there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, there were shortcomings in the handling of some police investigations,' Hunter said. 'But today we can assure you, our community, assure our community that the police department has improved how it investigates sexual assault cases.' However, Adams said he felt frustrated with the mayor's response. 'So many times the city doesn't seem to be addressing the issue head on,' Adams said. 'Rather, they seem to be talking past people. People tell the city their concerns and the city answers a different question entirely.' Mayor Hunter told News Channel 11 that the commission will need to process some of the comments that were made. He added that Sean Williams was rightfully convicted and said his heart goes out to everyone affected. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Yahoo
Attorney breaks down $28M Jane Doe settlement related to JCPD
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The City of Johnson City's pending $28 million payment to settle a civil lawsuit over the Johnson City Police Department's (JCPD) handling of sexual assault cases might seem at odds with the dismissal of all claims of corruption, bribery and sex trafficking against the city. A local civil rights attorney and former prosecutor, though, says those dismissals still leave an allegation on the table. That allegation — that JCPD engaged in a years-long 'unconstitutional pattern and practice as to women reporters of sexual assault' — actually opens the door for payment to many more people who reported sexual assault than just Sean Williams's victims. Any payments will come through a class action settlement that will be formalized now that the sides have agreed to terms. 'Based on my experience in civil cases, a $28 million settlement does not just get given to someone if there's not a fear or at least a concern that something will happen when it comes to the ultimate venue, as I said, a courtroom and what a jury is going to believe,' Corey Shipley told News Channel 11 Friday. PREVIOUS: Sides in JCPD corruption lawsuit tussle over evidence Shipley said the willingness to settle likely traces back to a third-party expert's audit of five years worth of Johnson City sexual assault cases — commissioned by the city itself after a separate but related lawsuit was filed in 2022, a year before the one being settled. 'It's very, very negative for the city and very, very negative for the police department,' Shipley said of the so-called 'Daigle Report,' named for its lead author Eric Daigle. 'When you look at that report and what is remaining in the case, it's one of those things that at least makes you think that there is still … some liability there that they're not denying.' The original 'Jane Does v Johnson City et al' suit, filed in June 2023, focused on victims of alleged serial rapist Sean Williams. It claimed Johnson City police had failed to properly investigate sexual assault allegations against downtown resident Williams between 2019 and 2022. That's a period that even federal prosecutors now claim Williams spent drugging and sexually assaulting more than 60 women — and filming those assaults. 67 possible Sean Williams sexual assault victims now The city and all defendants had consistently denied all claims, and attorneys representing the individual defendants released a statement calling all the claims 'absolutely false.' Now, the plaintiffs' attorneys are indeed dropping all those claims with prejudice, meaning they can't be brought back up against the city or any of the current and former officers who were named as individual defendants. But the City is still paying $28 million, with at least a significant portion of it coming directly from city coffers as its municipal liability insurance caps out at a lower amount. That specific amount is one question News Channel 11 put to the city Friday morning. The city declined to answer it but said the money will come out of the city's general fund balance, that it won't impact services to citizens in any way, and that the city is not considering layoffs as a result of paying its share of the settlement. 'This is one of the largest settlements that I can remember, because especially when you're dealing with a city or municipality … there are certain limits and certain (insurance) policy limits,' Shipley said. Daigle's report looked at more than 300 sexual assault reports to JCPD from 2018 through 2022. It found a number of cases that were well-investigated but determined that, overall, JCPD had a number of 'certain investigative practices' that 'could negatively affect the quality and efficiency of their response to sexual assault cases.' PREVIOUS — Report: JCPD sexual assault investigations didn't meet legal requirements, industry standards 'Mind you, this is an outside group that was hired by the city to come in and look to see if there was a pattern of omissions and looking at certain things of the investigations were not done properly,' Shipley said. 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.' WJHL's FULL COVERAGE OF THE SEAN WILLIAMS CASE That's now the apparent basis for an amended complaint by the plaintiffs that eliminates all the corruption, bribery and other claims against JCPD related to Sean Williams. It instead closely follows Daigle in listing a series of 'unconstitutional customs, practices, or policies' it claims JCPD followed. The claim says the JCPD violated the reporters' constitutional right to equal protection due to the previously mentioned 'pattern and practice.' While JCPD has worked on addressing many of Daigle's eight major findings and reports a markedly improved approach, Shipley said the weaknesses Daigle documented appear to provide the crux of any potential liability if the case were to go to trial. 'If that comes in front of a jury where there is a pattern of conduct that has taken place that is not anywhere near as egregious as the (Williams) allegations, but it could be argued that it's as egregious because we're not protecting the people that are bringing these allegations … you have to be concerned about that,' Shipley said. He said that's because unlike in criminal cases, where prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, civil cases require only a 'preponderance of the evidence' to succeed. 'If the defense in the case cannot prove that there are more questions than answers, you have to be concerned as an attorney and one that's advising a group of people that, 'look, you do have some exposure here,'' Shipley said. The sides had been negotiating a potential settlement for at least a couple of months. 'During these negotiations, there's a lot of legal maneuvering behind the scenes,' Shipley said. 'I know that the complaint was amended here, dropping certain claims against certain individuals, but I think it's really telling what was still left… Just because certain individuals were removed because of the amended complaint, it does not mean that there's not still something there that could be proven.' A defense attorney for the City warned commissioners Thursday of just that, saying taking the case to trial left open the potential for a judgment even larger than the settlement amount. Commissioner Joe Wise appeared to accept that premise. '(T)he class action has this potential of even if everything goes our way, except for one thing, somewhere along the line … that would make a settlement seem like peanuts someday in the future. This sort of settlement is one with significant consequences, but it is not catastrophic.' Wise clarified that 'not catastrophic' means the settlement will not threaten or disrupt 'core city services.' Shipley said juries are unpredictable, and because they're allowed to set both compensatory damages (to compensate for proven loss) and punitive damages (to punish the defendant for its conduct), award amounts can be unpredictable as well. 'As a judge or whomever that is that's instructing the jury that they should follow the law … (it) is your duty as a juror to do, but the fact is, with human nature, it's hard to kind of separate what you should do and what you want to do,' Shipley said. 'When you have all these really damaging allegations involving these victims, it's hard to really separate that because you have all this exposure that you could have going to a jury and a jury being very emotionally charged for what this organization or what the city did not do. And yes, the exposure could have been a lot larger.' The Does case was filed a year after former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kat Dahl filed her own lawsuit against the city. She claims that she was terminated from a role with the city after raising concerns about Williams and urging police leadership to investigate him more thoroughly. Dahl's suit remains outstanding, and in fact, it's included legal tussles over the admissibility of the Daigle Report. Dahl's attorneys provided a rare comment to News Channel 11 Friday, criticizing a Thursday news release from attorneys for the individual officers who were named as defendants in the Does suit. In addition to thanking the City for standing behind their clients, those attorneys went a step further, bringing up Sean Williams and saying it was JCPD that deserves credit for his eventual arrest and the serious charges that followed. 'It was JCPD's investigation and actions that actually led to the apprehension and now conviction of Sean Williams,' the release states. 'It was JCPD's indictment of Williams from which Williams fled, living on the run, and for which he was eventually arrested when found. That arrest revealed additional evidence that has now led to Williams's conviction. 'The officers, investigators, and leaders of the JCPD were determined to bring Sean Williams to justice, and their efforts did just that. Second-guessing investigative steps years later with the benefit of later-uncovered evidence and hindsight does nothing to benefit the citizens of Johnson City.' The response from attorneys Hugh Eastwood and Alexis Tahinci reads as follows: Women and children victimized by Sean Williams filed a class action against Johnson City, stating that Kat Dahl's whistleblowing was the sole reason they knew of Johnson City's intentional misconduct as to Williams. Even as they have now voted to pay $28 million to settle these victims' lawsuit, Johnson City officials continue their lamentable pattern of casting aspersions on the victims' serious allegations, with one stating the settlement 'made him feel sick' and another calling it a 'blemish.' Johnson City taxpayers can make their own conclusions as to why their government would pay $28 million to settle claims if they are 'absolutely false.' Women and children in the community can read of the Daigle Report and this $28 million payout, and rightly wonder that if Kat Dahl's whistleblowing was the sole cause of notice to Williams's victims of Johnson City's failures, then it might also be the sole cause of Johnson City firing Dahl. Kat Dahl's civil suit has pending motions and has not yet been set for trial. Williams, who has been convicted of three counts of enticing minors for purposes of producing child pornography, faces up to 95 years in federal prison when he's sentenced Feb. 24. Local prosecutors have also said he's likely to face multiple counts of rape or sexual assault against adult women. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
