A U.S. District

Court judge in Newnan has reversed a jury verdict

and ruled in favor of the Fayette County

Sheriff's Department concerning the termination

in 1997 of veteran deputy, Lt. Joe Winn.

A jury found May 11

that Winn was fired for filing a sworn statement

with an opposing lawyer after a 1997 traffic stop

involving the late Beverley Watson's husband, Jim

Watson.

Winn had been

awarded $15,000 by the jury, and the Sheriff's

Department asked Judge Jack T. Camp for a summary

judgment, which Camp issued Friday.

Sheriff Randall

Johnson said he was glad the case was finally

over after nearly three years.

"It worked

itself out. I thought it would come out

eventually," said Johnson. "We're glad

to get it over with. We hated that it came up to

start with."

Winn filed a First

Amendment lawsuit against the department because

he felt he was terminated for speaking out about

wrongdoing, his attorney Bruce Miller said last

week. But Marvin Devlin, attorney for the

Sheriff's Department, said that the jury was

instructed to rule only on whether Winn was fired

for his statements, and the judge would have to

decide if Winn's statement was protected speech.

According to court

records, Winn was instructed by Maj. Bruce Jordan

to stop Jim Watson's Mercury Mountaineer July 2,

1997. Jordan searched the vehicle and found a

loaded Glock .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol,

which was checked and later returned to Watson.

No charges were filed against Watson in

connection with the traffic stop.

Watson was stopped

for suspicion of having illegally tinted windows.

Winn was unable to produce a card issued by the

Sheriff's Department to check the window tint,

court records indicated.

Watson never

refuted the charge concerning his windows. Winn

performed the traffic stop at Jordan's orders,

Miller said, and watched Jordan search the

vehicle over Watson's protests.

Watson alleged that

the action constituted an illegal search and

seizure and a civil rights violation. He filed a

federal lawsuit in that regard, and Jordan

countersued for libel. Both actions were thrown

out of federal court earlier this year.

In the month

following the traffic stop, Winn was approached

records stated was an old friend of Winn's and

had done legal work for him in the past.

Jordan saw Winn

speaking with Sexton at the courthouse a few days

after the traffic stop, and told him not to

discuss the Beverley Watson investigation with

Sexton. She disappeared more than three years ago

after last being seen at her home in Fayette

County.

A portion of her

remains were found in Fulton County last spring.

Fulton County authorities have not officially

announced that her death was the result of foul

play, and Jim Watson was never officially named a

suspect by Fayette County authorities after her

disappearance.

Jordan's orders

were confirmed by Maj. Whitlock, Winn's division

commander, who added that Winn should not discuss

the case without the county attorney present,

court records stated.

Winn eventually

signed a written affidavit for Sexton, swearing

that he did not see Watson's vehicle commit a

traffic offense or commit any other rule of the

road that would justify pulling it over. He added

that Watson denied Jordan consent to search the

vehicle and Winn did not see any probable cause

to do so.

Winn's affidavit

led to an immediate suspension, and within two

days a disciplinary board unanimously voted to

terminate him.

The jury was

instructed by Judge Camp to consider only whether

Winn was fired as a result of his statements to

Sexton, and it was up to the judge himself to

determine whether Winn had a constitutional right

to make those statements in light of his position

with the Sheriff's Department. That was the key

to the case being reversed, according to the

defendants.

"The evidence

clearly showed that Joe Winn had ulterior motives

when he provided the affidavit to Lee

Sexton," said Jordan. "That's why his

speech was not protected."

Camp noted in his

ruling that the Sheriff's Department did not

attempt any kind of coverup for wrongdoing, and

Winn had established channels through which he

could have brought his concerns to light if he

perceived abuses in the department.

"The interests

of discipline and efficiency of the Sheriff's

Department outweigh Deputy Winn's First Amendment

rights under the particular circumstances of this

case," Camp's ruling stated. "Deputy

Winn did not have a right to criticize publicly a

superior officer's operational orders during on

ongoing investigation, when he had ample means

available to him for commenting upon any

perceived abuse."

An 18-year veteran

of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, Winn

now works as a deputy in Clayton County and plans

to run for sheriff of Pike County, his attorney

said last week.

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