Walker denies accusations he fabricated evidence
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 1, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/040116_PS_Walker_Day3
Kat Russell / The Paducah Sun
Before Jerry Walker's 10-year-old daughter took the stand Thursday, during the third day of her father's trial, Walker's attorney placed his briefcase on the witness chair so she could sit on it and be seen by the jury.
Walker, 40, a former assistant principal at Paducah Middle School, faces charges of perjury, tampering with physical evidence and witness tampering after he allegedly lied to a Paducah schools tribunal in 2013 while appealing his termination.
Walker was fired after administrators learned he was having an affair with Jennifer Griffith, 36, a special education teacher at the school. Walker appealed his termination, requesting a tribunal hearing, during which police said he gave false testimony and produced fabricated photos as evidence.
Much of the case against Walker is focused on two dates: the first was May 25, 2013, when Walker was supposed to attend a state track meet in Louisville as a school administrator. Instead, police said, Walker spent two nights with Griffith at a Hyatt hotel in Louisville, then submitted an expense report to the school requesting reimbursement for expenses he claimed were accrued while attending the meet.
The second date was June 22, 2013, the day the commonwealth alleges Walker went to a Red Robin restaurant in Louisville with Griffith and fabricated photos in order to prove at his tribunal that he had in fact attended the track meet.
Thursday's testimony focused primarily on June 22.
Smiling nervously as she glanced around the courtroom, Walker's daughter said on that day she played a softball game in the morning, after which she rode with a friend to a teammate's birthday party, and her parents stopped by later.
At the party, the girl said she went swimming and then her ear started to hurt. Her parents then took her home, but her ear was still hurting so they went to Dallas Medical Center. During most of that day, the girl said, her father was with her and not in Louisville.
Walker's wife, Karen Walker, testified Thursday offering a similar story and producing receipts from the medical center, as well as the pharmacy where they picked up a prescription for their daughter.
Later, Walker took the stand and talked about his affair with Griffith, the tribunal that resulted in the loss of his job and the accusation that he had submitted fabricated photos as evidence.
In the weeks leading up to the tribunal, Walker said, he believed the proceedings would mainly focus on the rumors of his affair and the complaint the school said it had received.
However, Walker said he realized the tribunal was headed in another direction when he realized the school board planned to call a photography expert to discuss data embedded in the photos taken at Red Robin.
The expert, he said, testified that the metadata, or information embedded in the image files, showed the photos were created on June 22, 2013, and not May 25, as Walker and Griffith had testified.
"I knew something was not adding up," the expert said. "Something was not correct with that picture."
Walker said the expert's testimony undermined his testimony that he had attended the track meet on May 25 and called into question his whereabouts on June 22, something he was not prepared for.
"I was shocked," Walker said, "caught off guard, not understanding where the June 22, 2013, date came from and having very little time to prepare to prove those pictures were taken in May."
After the tribunal, Walker's wife testified she and her husband got to work trying to prove the data in the photos was wrong.
"I worked so hard to prove the truth, that he didn't fabricate anything," she said. "I contacted every person I could think of that might have been able to prove my husband was telling the truth."
Walker said they called every place he had visited that weekend to see if they had camera footage that could help, they researched how metadata could be altered, and worked to disprove Griffith's story that she and Walker had hatched a plan after the track meet to deceive the tribunal.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee seemed unconvinced as he cross-examined Walker and his wife, implying the couple's stories were well rehearsed and a bit too convenient.
As he questioned them he noted the difference between their testimonies at the tribunal as to Walker's whereabouts on the 22nd and the stories they offered Thursday.
McGee also accused them of lying, saying that between the two proceedings both Walker and his wife had made false or inaccurate statements.
By Thursday evening, the defense had completed its case. The trial will resume at 10 a.m. today with closing statements, followed by jury deliberation.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
Walker, 40, a former assistant principal at Paducah Middle School, faces charges of perjury, tampering with physical evidence and witness tampering after he allegedly lied to a Paducah schools tribunal in 2013 while appealing his termination.
Walker was fired after administrators learned he was having an affair with Jennifer Griffith, 36, a special education teacher at the school. Walker appealed his termination, requesting a tribunal hearing, during which police said he gave false testimony and produced fabricated photos as evidence.
Much of the case against Walker is focused on two dates: the first was May 25, 2013, when Walker was supposed to attend a state track meet in Louisville as a school administrator. Instead, police said, Walker spent two nights with Griffith at a Hyatt hotel in Louisville, then submitted an expense report to the school requesting reimbursement for expenses he claimed were accrued while attending the meet.
The second date was June 22, 2013, the day the commonwealth alleges Walker went to a Red Robin restaurant in Louisville with Griffith and fabricated photos in order to prove at his tribunal that he had in fact attended the track meet.
Thursday's testimony focused primarily on June 22.
Smiling nervously as she glanced around the courtroom, Walker's daughter said on that day she played a softball game in the morning, after which she rode with a friend to a teammate's birthday party, and her parents stopped by later.
At the party, the girl said she went swimming and then her ear started to hurt. Her parents then took her home, but her ear was still hurting so they went to Dallas Medical Center. During most of that day, the girl said, her father was with her and not in Louisville.
Walker's wife, Karen Walker, testified Thursday offering a similar story and producing receipts from the medical center, as well as the pharmacy where they picked up a prescription for their daughter.
Later, Walker took the stand and talked about his affair with Griffith, the tribunal that resulted in the loss of his job and the accusation that he had submitted fabricated photos as evidence.
In the weeks leading up to the tribunal, Walker said, he believed the proceedings would mainly focus on the rumors of his affair and the complaint the school said it had received.
However, Walker said he realized the tribunal was headed in another direction when he realized the school board planned to call a photography expert to discuss data embedded in the photos taken at Red Robin.
The expert, he said, testified that the metadata, or information embedded in the image files, showed the photos were created on June 22, 2013, and not May 25, as Walker and Griffith had testified.
"I knew something was not adding up," the expert said. "Something was not correct with that picture."
Walker said the expert's testimony undermined his testimony that he had attended the track meet on May 25 and called into question his whereabouts on June 22, something he was not prepared for.
"I was shocked," Walker said, "caught off guard, not understanding where the June 22, 2013, date came from and having very little time to prepare to prove those pictures were taken in May."
After the tribunal, Walker's wife testified she and her husband got to work trying to prove the data in the photos was wrong.
"I worked so hard to prove the truth, that he didn't fabricate anything," she said. "I contacted every person I could think of that might have been able to prove my husband was telling the truth."
Walker said they called every place he had visited that weekend to see if they had camera footage that could help, they researched how metadata could be altered, and worked to disprove Griffith's story that she and Walker had hatched a plan after the track meet to deceive the tribunal.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee seemed unconvinced as he cross-examined Walker and his wife, implying the couple's stories were well rehearsed and a bit too convenient.
As he questioned them he noted the difference between their testimonies at the tribunal as to Walker's whereabouts on the 22nd and the stories they offered Thursday.
McGee also accused them of lying, saying that between the two proceedings both Walker and his wife had made false or inaccurate statements.
By Thursday evening, the defense had completed its case. The trial will resume at 10 a.m. today with closing statements, followed by jury deliberation.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
