Monday, July 20, 2015, 10:40 am News Flash Archive

Statements by two Greenwood Police officers that the City wanted kept secret from the public which contained false accusations and fabricated claims against Jelani Barr have nevertheless been filed with the court for his prosecution.

The secret documents, as filed against Mr. Barr with the court, may be viewed here: False Police Statements re: Barr

It is not possible to determine from the court files which city official or employee filed the false statements with the court, or what date the incident took place.

Barr was arrested by Greenwood police the night of April 7th while filming a police stop at a local gas station. Barr's trial is set for August 3rd before Municipal Court Judge Carlos Palmer.

Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore had rejected The Taxpayers Channel's public records request for the statements on April 21, claiming that "they are part of an ongoing investigation and release of this information may jeopardize the integrity of this investigation." See: Greenwood refuses access to Jelani Barr arrest videos

The Taxpayers Channel obtained the documents from another source and published them, disclosing that both Lt. Randy Powell and Sgt. Michael Hoskins had repeatedly lied about Mr. Barr's activities the night of his April 7th arrest, and had both fabricated false claims against him, to justify illegally arresting Barr when he had broken no law and disobeyed no police order. Our reporting on these bombshell secret statements may be viewed here: Secret documents show 2nd Police Officer lied about Jelani Barr arrest

Police Chief Moore immediately told the Greenwood Commonwealth that he was opening an investigation into how The Taxpayers Channel came to possess these secret documents.

The Taxpayers Channel filed a new public records request two weeks ago with the City of Greenwood, seeking a complete copy of the court file. Court files are open to the public under state law. That court file was provided to us last Friday.

In addition to the perjured affidavit made by Lt. Randy Powell, in which he falsely accuses Barr of refusing to obey police orders to leave a police scene, the court file contains at least three other false statements by Powell and Hoskins, including the investigative reports that Chief Moore had claimed were secret and could not be disclosed to the public.

Chief Moore and Mayor McAdams have both known that these statement were false since April 8, the day they were created. That day, both officials viewed a video taken by Barr of the arrest which showed that Powell's and Hoskins' statements were fabrications of what actually occurred at the arrest.

The city fired Lt. Powell on May 15 for his misconduct surrounding the Barr arrest incident, although the precise reasoning for his dismissal has not been made public. See Greenwood fires police officer in Jelani Barr arrest.

Knowing that the statements were false, the city nevertheless presented them to the court in the prosecution of Mr. Barr. More than three months later, the city has not withdrawn the false statements, nor has the city provided notice to the court that it will not rely upon the false statements in its prosecution of Mr. Barr.

The Taxpayers Channel requested both Mayor McAdams and City Prosecutor Charles Swayze III to explain why the city filed false statements with the court, and why after three months the city has not withdrawn them from the court's consideration.

Mayor McAdams declined to provide answers, stating that she was on a trip to Florida to visit relatives. She referred us to Mr. Swayze.

This morning, Mr. Swayze also declined comment.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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