by TChris

Tommy Riley, sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, is on trial for official misconduct. Riley released Sheila Kirk from her sentence before it ended. A deputy, Johnny Carter, admitted that he brought Kirk cigarettes and drugs and that he had sex with her while she was in jail. The prosecution contends that Carter persuaded Riley to release Kirk so she could get an abortion, and that Riley let her stay out after Kirk’s mother threatened to expose the scandal if her daughter returned to jail. Riley says he released Kirk so that taxpayers wouldn’t have to fund her abortion.

[Special Agent Scott Lott] testified that when he came to arrest Riley following his indictment last October, his first reaction was, "Does this mean I can't be sheriff anymore?"

Riley’s first trial ended with a hung jury. Most of the original charges have been dropped as prosecutors focus on the misconduct charge.