LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- John Tilley, a former Kentucky state Democratic representative acquitted in July by a Fayette County jury on a charge of rape, filed a lawsuit against a Lexington police officer alleging he lied about evidence in the case in order to obtain a felony charge.
John Tilley, 55, was found not guilty July 24 of having sex with a victim who could not consent due to her level of intoxication on April 15, 2022. Tilley claimed he had consensual sexual relations with the accuser.
On Aug. 30, Tilley filed a defamation lawsuit in Fayette Circuit Court against Lexington Police Sgt. Markell Heyward, claiming the officer misled and lied to the court and grand jury about facts of the case and Tilley’s character.
"Heyward’s statements and testimony regarding John Tilley were defamatory in nature in that he alleged the Plaintiff was responsible for rape without a factual basis and in reckless disregard for the truth," according to the lawsuit. "The allegation … was completely false."
Heyward was promoted to sergeant after the trial, the suit claims.
A spokeswoman for the Lexington Police Department declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending.
Tilley claims he was unlawfully searched and arrested without probable cause and there was no legal justification for the charge filed against him.
The lawsuit claims that Heyward lied about injuries suffered by the alleged victim. Also, a selfie supposedly taken by the woman with Tilley used by Heyward to get a search warrant for DNA was clearly not Tilley, according to the lawsuit.
Lexington Police Sgt. Markell Heyward
In addition, Heyward "manipulated" the grand jury by saying that Tilley had been involved in "conduct like ‘this’ on prior occasions, insinuating his behavior was habitual and predatory," the lawsuit claims.
Tilley was a five-term state representative from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, who served as a Democrat. He is also the former chair of the Kentucky House Judiciary Committee and served as the secretary for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet under Gov. Matt Bevin, overseeing the state's prison system.
The lawsuit claims Tilley suffered "loss of standing and reputation as a result of the false statements."
The woman told police she blacked out after being given an alcoholic shot by a man she didn’t know at a Lexington bar. She has a pending lawsuit against Tilley.
The woman told police she woke up the next morning unclothed in a hotel room "with no memory of how she arrived there," according to an affidavit written by police. She took an Uber home and her roommate drove her to the hospital and called police.
The suit is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.
Related Stories:
- Former Kentucky lawmaker John Tilley found not guilty of rape by Lexington jury
- POLICE: Former Ky. lawmaker John Tilley helped 'unstable' woman to hotel room before alleged rape
- Longtime Kentucky state representative, Bevin cabinet member arrested in Lexington on rape charge
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