Saturday, March 7, 2020, 4:50 pm News Flash Archive

In a response to Bert Keys' amended complaint, the City of Greenwood has silently walked back most of the lies it told the Federal District Court back in June 2019.

Incredibly, the City now claims that, contrary to its previous lies, it did in fact arrest Mr. Keys and torture him with an electric stun gun when he resisted arrest. The incident, which up until now the City had completely denied to the Court, was covered extensively on the front pages of the Greenwood Commonwealth and by The Taxpayers Channel.

Keys had sued the City of Greenwood in April 2019 over a September 2, 2016 incident in which Greenwood police officers assaulted him, tortured him twice with an electric stun gun, kidnapped him and held him for ransom for four days at the county jail. Keys was never brought to trial by the City, and Municipal Judge Carlos Palmer dismissed all charges against Keys in November 2018 and expunged them from the record. See Taxpayer Channel reporting on the lawsuit here:
Exonerated Taser Victim sues Greenwood Police

But as reported exclusively by The Taxpayers Channel, Greenwood filed an answer to the original complaint full of false statements, denying over a dozen obviously true assertions made by Mr. Keys' attorneys in his original complaint.

For a complete description of the lies the City of Greenwood told the Federal Court, please see:
City of Greenwood Makes False Statements to the Federal Court in Bert Keys Lawsuit

The City denied that Ray Moore was the police chief. It denied that any of the police officers named had worked for the City. It denied that the police had tasered Mr. Keys, or assaulted or arrested him, or jailed him, or charged him with any crimes at all.

All these claims were true, and the City of Greenwood knew they were true when the City filed false statements to the Federal Court denying that these facts were true. The lies told by the City of Greenwood to the Court conflicted with the City's own statements made to the Greenwood Commonwealth at the time, as well as with the detailed Police Incident Reports prepared by the police officers at the time of the incident.

But in the latest filing by the City in response to an amended complaint from Keys, the City silently walked back its false statements, admitting most of the facts that it had falsely denied months earlier.

Specifically, the City now admits that the named officers were all employed as police officers at the time of the incident, facts it had untruthfully denied previously.

The City now admits that Ray Moore was the police chief at the time, which it had untruthfully denied previously.

The City now admits that its officer tased Mr. Keys not once but twice, which it had untruthfully denied previously.

The City now admits that Keys was handcuffed, arrested, and jailed, all of which it had untruthfully denied previously.

The City now admits that Keys was charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct-failure to comply, threat on an officer, and "Other-parking," all of which the City had untruthfully denied previously.

Even though the City of Greenwood has now been caught repeatedly lying to the Court, denying that Mr. Keys had been arrested or tortured or charged with anything, it now completely changed its answer to assert that Mr. Keys was lawfully arrested, that he resisted arrest, and that Keys is at fault for his own torture at the hands of the City of Greenwood Police.

The Taxpayers Channel was never able to determine who was responsible for making the the untruthful statements to the Court. At the time, Mayor Carolyn McAdams stated she had never read the City's false answer, and City Attorney Don Brock stated that the City would not comment on pending litigation.

To read Mr. Keys' amended complaint, see here:
Bert Keys Amended Complaint against the City of Greenwood

To read the City's amended response, in which it walks back its untruthful statements, and now asserts that Mr. Keys is responsible for his own torture at the hands of the City police, see here:
City's Amended Answer to Keys Complaint

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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