MAN ACQUITTED ON ALL COUNTS IN FLEEING CASE

A man whose jaw was broken when he was arrested for allegedly fleeing from
Knox County sheriff's deputies was found innocent Thursday of all charges.
Jurors deliberated less than four hours before acquitting 22-year-old
Jeremy Justice of resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, evading arrest
and reckless driving.

The verdict came after three days of trial, during which Justice testified
he fled from men in dark clothing -- who turned out to be deputies serving
a search warrant -- when he turned onto a narrow road at dusk and one of
them motioned to him.

When he was eventually arrested Justice testified someone punched him in
the face while he was restrained, shattering his jaw and other facial bones.

Deputies testified that they were clearly identifiable as officers when
they ordered Justice to stop on the evening of April 30, 1997, and that he
resisted arrest.

The jury, however, believed Justice.

"Justice is sometimes delayed, but the jury's verdict was very satisfying,"
said Herbert S. Moncier, who along with Ursula Bailey, represented Justice
during the trial before Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner.

"It was unfortunate that these charges were not dismissed early in 1998,"
Moncier said, "and that the taxpayers of Knox County have had to bear the
expense of this trial designed to cover up the brutal attack on Jeremy
Justice."

Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Philip Morton said he
believed the officers' testimony.

"We're obviously disappointed," Morton said. "We felt like we had a good
case and are just disappointed with the verdict."

The case revolved around the events on and around Devona Street in North
Knoxville -- where deputies were serving a search warrant as part of an
investigation of a large-scale drug and fencing operation.

Justice, accompanied by his then-girlfriend, testified that he pulled onto
the street and saw a man in dark clothing step out and motion toward him.
Frightened, he threw his truck into reverse and fled as a gray Toyota
pickup fell into pursuit.

The driver of that truck, then-Knox County Sheriff's Deputy Jim Tripp, said
he had a blue light flashing on the dash and that he used a siren until he
flipped it off to call E-911 for help. Deputies Christopher Wilhoit and
David Henderson were in the back.

A key witness in the case, however, testified she did not see a blue light
or hear the siren as both vehicles went by her.

Both Tripp and Henderson testified that, while the officers were in
plainclothes, they all wore clothing with some sort of sheriff's insignia
on it and it was still daylight.

The deputies eventually lost sight of Justice's truck.

Both Justice and his mother testified they returned to the scene to try to
find out who was chasing him. Both said deputies took him out of the car
when they found out he had been in the fleeing truck, and he was struck by
someone.

A doctor testified that Justice suffered four fractures to his jaw and
other facial bones from a blow to the side of his face.

Tripp testified Monday that Justice "exploded" off the trunk of the car
when told he was under arrest and struck Tripp in the ribs.

Tripp, though, did not include that detail in the arrest report, the
warrant charging Justice or a statement he made to an investigator two
weeks later.

"Naturally, citizens of Knox County do not want to believe that things like
what happened in this case really happened," Moncier said Thursday. "But
they do."

Justice has a $1.5 million civil lawsuit pending in Knox County Circuit
Court in connection with the incident.

Moncier declined to comment on that lawsuit.