INNOCENT, OFFICERS SAY

200 Pack Courtroom to Support Deputies in Extortion Case

LOUDON - Two Loudon County deputies pleaded innocent Monday to extortion
charges stemming from the seizure of nearly $10,000 following a 2002
traffic stop.

Ninth District Attorney General Scott McCluen won't be leading the
prosecution, however, because he plans to recuse himself from the
politically charged proceedings.

Loudon County Criminal Court Judge E. Eugene Eblen did not set a trial date
during Monday's arraignment hearing.

Attorneys for Chief Deputy Tony Aikens and Deputy Paul E. Curtis entered
their pleas in a courtroom packed with more than 200 people, at least two
dozen of them deputies in uniform. Blount County Sheriff Jim Berrong and
Knox County Sheriff's Office administrative chief Lee Tramel also showed up
in support of the officers.

A grand jury indicted Aikens, 46, and Curtis, 35, last week. McCluen signed
off on the indictment, prompting Aikens, who is also the vice mayor of
Lenoir City and an announced candidate for Loudon County mayor, to say the
charges are politically motivated.

McCluen has denied the allegation, but his office confirmed Monday that he
had asked the state Attorney General's office to bring in another
prosecutor to handle the case.

"That way we will have nothing to do with it," said Brian Crisp, McCluen's
chief administrator.

Outside the Loudon County Court House after the arraignment, Aikens blasted
McCluen while saying he believes he will be exonerated in court.

"The attorney general knows I've been against him for quite some time,"
Aikens said. "He knows I've been very vocal."

Aikens also predicted voters would knock McCluen out of office if he runs
for re-election in 2006.

Curtis' lawyer, Craig L. Garrett, said law officers' beef with McCluen is
the result of criminal cases that take two years to come to trial.

"It's not a personal vendetta against him," Garrett said. "It's the way he
runs his office."

Crisp said that trials are delayed "for a multitude of reasons" by judges,
prosecutors, defense lawyers and law enforcement officers alike.

Garrett and T. Scott Jones, who is Aikens' lawyer, said McCluen hasn't put
enough distance between himself and the case.

"I don't think it resolves the conflict," Jones said.

Aikens said he would ask McCluen to recuse himself from the case that led
to the extortion charges against the officers. McCluen wasn't available for
comment, Crisp said.

The events leading to the extortion charges began in 2002, when Eddie W.
Witt, 54, of Soddy-Daisy gave $9,649.25 to the officers in exchange for
allowing him to keep $10,000 and his vehicle following a traffic stop. A
police dog indicated the presence of drugs in Witt's car, authorities say,
but no drugs were found.

Witt was charged with three traffic and two weapons offenses, which are
still pending in court. State law allows officers to seize money and
property they believe are connected to drug transactions and other
violations, even if charges are never filed.

Loudon County authorities deposited the money into the sheriff's office
drug fund without going through the state forfeiture process.

Witt later filed a lawsuit against Loudon County. Authorities returned the
money to him as part of a settlement.