By Chris Cannon
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville jury found a former Metro Police officer not guilty of official misconduct in connection with the arrest of an 18-year-old woman in 2009.
Jeffrey Poole learned verdict late Wednesday morning, after three days of testimony at his trial.
Judge Seth Norman withdrew a sexual battery charge against Poole on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence.
"When the judge dismissed the sexual battery count of the indictment, there really wasn't any basis, anymore, for the official misconduct," said Mark Scruggs, Poole's defense attorney.
The investigation began at the end of April when a 27-year-old known prostitute reported that Poole, in uniform and on-duty as South Precinct patrolman, stopped her as she walked the streets south of downtown. She told officers that Poole patted her down to the point of fondling her and that he appeared to make verbal propositions, but she said she rejected his advances.
Her testimony did not support the charge when she took the stand during the trial.
"The indictment claimed there was some kind of sexual battery, when in fact, she was never touched sexually," Scruggs explained.
Poole's time in a courtroom is not over with the not guilty verdict. He still faces several other charges.
"We're going to continue to seek justice for victims of crime, no matter what happens in any particular jury verdict," said Assistant District Attorney General Robert McGuire.
Poole is also charged with sexual battery, four counts of rape, three more counts of official misconduct, a count of patronizing a prostitute and a count of attempting to patronize a prostitute in a police zone in connection with three other women police identified as victims.
"There are a total of ten counts of the indictment that are left, three individual victims, so we will be pursuing prosecution on those cases," McGuire explained.
A trial date will be set within the next couple of weeks for the first of those three separate trials.
Poole remains a decommissioned member of the Metro Police force and is on administrative assignment at this home.
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Jeffrey Poole
