Political speech or extortion? Judge will determine
A special judge will decide next month whether an indicted Hamilton County commissioner’s comments to a now-defeated campaign opponent are protected political speech or grounds for a criminal extortion prosecution.
Criminal Court Judge Andrew Freiberg, of Bradley County, Tenn., accepted District 8 Commissioner Tim Boyd’s “not guilty” plea Friday and said he will hear Boyd’s motion to dismiss June 5. Freiberg is presiding over the case because Hamilton County judges didn’t want to create the appearance of potential bias and recused themselves.
Boyd faces a Class D felony charge of extortion, which carries a sentence of two to four years in prison upon conviction, in connection with phone conversations he had with East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert in February. Earlier this week, Boyd soundly defeated
Lambert in the District 8 Hamilton County Commission race.
Lambert said Boyd threatened during three phone calls in February to release negative information about him — unless Lambert dropped out of the race. Lambert said he recorded their first conversation on Feb. 16 to have a witness. Then he went to Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston with his complaint and recorded two more phone calls he made to Boyd.
Pinkston asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into possible extortion, according to documents his office provided to the Times Free Press. Prosecutors then secured an indictment against Boyd in early April, the day before early voting started.
Why was the TBI involved instead of a local law enforcement agency?
“I think with public officials, prosecutors tend to go outside the local law enforcement, whether it’s county or city,” said defense attorney Lee Davis, a former Hamilton County prosecutor who is representing Boyd. “They want impartiality. But to me, this whole thing is misguided. If [the TBI] couldn’t figure out this was political, then their investigative skills are weak. If it were me, I would have waited till the election was over. Because, I mean, you’ve just provided the defense with a defense.”
Davis filed a 14-page motion Thursday to dismiss the charge, saying Boyd’s behavior falls under politically protected speech. During the phone conversations, Boyd referenced information that was already in the public record, said Davis, who says authorities shouldn’t waste their time on this case.
Prosecutor spokeswoman Melydia Clewell said Pinkston has no comment on the defense brief. Pinkston could file a response between now and June 5, but Clewell declined to comment on whether he’ll do that.
Unlike judges, who want to avoid the appearance of being biased, prosecutors usually have a clear objective in a case: a conviction. But to ensure he was making the right decision about staying on the case, Pinkston sought advice from former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice William “Mickey” Barker, Clewell said.
“Justice Barker’s opinion is that recusal was not warranted,” Clewell said.