LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office violated Kentucky’s open records law by withholding copies of a $600,000 settlement paid to the family of a man who was beaten, repeatedly tased and left to die in the back of a cruiser, Attorney General Russell Coleman's office ruled.
The opinion issued Sept. 26 sides with WDRB News, which sought the wrongful death lawsuit settlement from April for months from Hardin County officials, but was denied access.
Both the Hardin County Attorney and the Sheriff’s Office argued to the attorney general they did not possess the settlement agreement.
After repeatedly being told the settlement did not exist, WDRB obtained it from the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo), the insurance carrier for Hardin County government.
The attorney general ruled the Hardin County Attorney’s Office did not violate the open records law as it was not involved in defending the lawsuit and did not have access to the settlement.
But the sheriff's department was the defendant in the lawsuit and did have access to the settlement, violating the law by denying access to it, according to the ruling.
"As to the Sheriff's Office, it is apparent that it was the attorney’s client and therefore could demand a copy of the settlement agreement," the attorney general ruled.
The ruling is consistent with previous decisions from the attorney general, which handles open records disputes.
In addition, according to this week's opinion, the sheriff’s department did not provide any exemption for withholding the settlement from WDRB.
"This opinion confirms that the Sheriff's office violated the Open Records Act by denying possession of a document that was within their control," said longtime 1st Amendment attorney Mike Abate, who represents WDRB and multiple media organizations across the state.
"Agencies cannot avoid transparency by asking their attorneys or other contractors to hold onto documents for them," Abate said. "Moreover, this just proves how disingenuous it was for the Sheriff to deny the request, and suggests it was trying to hide from the public that it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money to address officer wrongdoing."
In an Aug. 30 post on the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page, after WDRB's article, Sheriff John Ward criticized the reporting and argued the office "responded timely and accurately to all inquiries made by WDRB."
Ward did not immediately return a message seeking a comment on Friday.
The sheriff's department has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
The 2022 lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville, claimed Hardin County sheriff's deputies used excessive force, lied about it and violated protocol by not having EMS take Alejandro Clarke Jr. to a hospital before he went into cardiac arrest.
FILE -- Alejandro Clark (WDRB/archive)
Attorney Garry Adams, who represents Clarke's family, previously said in a statement the family "has resolved its differences with Hardin County, Kentucky, and the Hardin County Defendants, but I am not at liberty at this time to discuss any of the terms of that resolution."
Part of the lawsuit is still pending against Kentucky State Police troopers who took part in the arrest.
According to the settlement, Clarke's estate received $600,000 for the "altercation" with the sheriff's deputies and Hardin County EMS, but the payment isn't an admission of liability on their part. Clarke was a 37-year-old father of two.
The settlement has a confidentiality agreement that forbids disclosing its existence except as required by state law.
The incident occurred on May 26, 2021, when, by all accounts, Clarke was having a psychotic episode and was a danger to himself and others, assaulting his girlfriend, sending her to the hospital and prompting her mother to call police.
Clarke fought with the first officer who arrived late that night -- Hardin County Deputy Jacob Duke -- biting the officer's arm as Duke tried to arrest him, according to KSP investigation obtained by WDRB.
After Clarke then ran off, Duke called in reinforcements, and three KSP troopers and a lieutenant with the sheriff's department responded, along with a K-9.
Police said Clarke refused commands to show his hands and get on the ground, resulting in him being tased and the K-9 used. Clarke then resisted being handcuffed and was hit by police before the K-9 was again released on him, according to a Kentucky State Police investigative report that included interviews with the officers.
Adams has said Clarke was 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 140 pounds and unarmed, surrounded by five law enforcement officers and a K-9. Clarke was beaten with a baton, fists, boots, knees, elbows and flashlights.
And while an ambulance was at the scene, officers instead put him in the back of a cruiser to take him to the hospital, leaving Clarke alone inside for about 30 minutes. He went into cardiac arrest and was later pronounced dead.
"This was the most savage beating that I've seen," Adams told WDRB previously. "I've had cases where people were tased. ... cases where people were beaten but not where (so much) use of force happened along with the K-9 that resulted in the person's death."
During the struggle, according to one officer, Clarke yelled out "God help me! They're gonna kill me!" and repeatedly referenced George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man who died in 2020 after a white officer knelt on his neck as he pleaded, "I can't breathe."
A witness — the girlfriend's mother, Elizabeth Vinson, who lived across the street off Nolin Road in Sonora near Glendale — told police she saw Clarke walk to the officers and lie down on his back, his arms resting by his side.
A struggle ensued when officers attempted to turn him over onto his stomach, Vinson said.
"The only resistance that anybody saw was that he was waving one arm that wasn't handcuffed," Adams said previously. "When you have five people and a dog, you don't need to use the amount of force that was obviously used to get him under control and get that other arm in a handcuff."
There is no police body camera footage of the arrest.
EMS workers on the scene checked Clarke — who told them he was in pain and short of breath — and turned him back over to police, according to investigative documents. One officer said an EMT told Clarke he was "breathing just fine."
Bruising along the left side of Clarke's body
Pictures of Clarke in the police documents show his face badly bruised and swollen with large gashes on his arms and legs from K-9 bites. His nose was split open and he was bleeding from one of his ears. He also had bite marks and bruises on his back.
The final medical examiner's report determined Clarke died of multisystem organ failure following cardiac arrest "due to multiple injuries resulting from law enforcement apprehension/subdual, restraint, complicated by methamphetamine toxicity."
A Hardin County grand jury declined to charge any of the officers involved.
Duke no longer works for the county. Hardin County Lt. Taylor Miller, who was also a defendant in the lawsuit, is still with the sheriff's department.
Previous Coverage:
Family of man who died after 'savage beating' by Kentucky cops paid $600,000
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