Walker's ex-girlfriend claims he 'fabricated the whole story'
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
March 31, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/033116_PS_Walker_Day2
Kat Russell / The Paducah Sun
"He fabricated the whole story," Jennifer Griffith testified Wednesday during the second day of trial in the case against former Paducah Middle School assistant principal Jerry Walker.
"It was all very calculated and planned. Jerry told me that he was going to prove he was at the track meet, and that involved fabricating photographs, ordering wristbands and T-shirts, schooling me on what to say when I was questioned and a fabricated story for the 25th and his whereabouts."
Walker, 40, 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.
The former assistant principal was fired after administrators learned he was having an affair with 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.
The case against Walker relates to a state track meet on May 25, 2013, in Louisville, which he was supposed to attend as an 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.
Griffith was also charged for her role in the attempted deception. She pleaded guilty to the tampering charge and to felony perjury earlier this year.
In court Wednesday, much of Griffith's testimony focused on two neon-orange wristbands and three photographs, which she said Walker used in his attempted ruse.
When she and Walker returned from the Louisville trip, Griffith said they were each confronted regarding rumors they were having an affair. She said Walker worried for his job, prompting him to devise a plan to prove he had attended the track meet.
"He wanted to save his job," she said.
Griffith said Walker researched where to buy wristbands like the ones given at the track meet, and she helped him purchase them online using her computer and debit card. Walker saw photos from the meet on Facebook, in which attendees were wearing bright orange wristbands and found an online site where he could order "exact replicas," she said.
They purchased 100 wristbands for about $90, she said, and had them delivered to her house.
The next weekend, on June 22, 2013, she and Walker drove to Louisville and had lunch at the same Red Robin they had eaten at during their previous trip, a meal for which Walker had submitted a receipt requesting reimbursement. While there, Griffith took several photos of Walker wearing the wristband.
"Jerry wanted those pictures to present into evidence at his tribunal to try to make it look like he was there at the track meet," she said.
Griffith said Walker had also decided to wear a T-shirt from a previous school 5k event for the photos, because he thought it would look more believable.
"He told me he (wore the shirt) because it was running affiliated, so that would look more convincing in the photographs," she said.
At the restaurant, Griffith said Walker changed the time and date on his watch to match the submitted receipt, and gave her directions as to how to frame the photos, making sure she captured the wristband and his watch while including items on the table that showed the restaurant's name.
Griffith also alleged Walker ordered T-shirts that were sold at the track event and coached her on exactly what to say during the tribunal, which was held in July 2013.
Near the end of the tribunal, the tables turned, Griffith said, when Walker realized the school board was going to call a "photograph expert" to testify. Walker knew then he was going to lose his appeal, she said, which he did.
"Jerry told me that the picture that was submitted as evidence, the actual time stamp on the photograph showed June 22, 2013, and we had testified that the photo was taken on May 25, 2013," she said. "He told me he was going to find a way to change that."
Griffith said Walker found software that allowed him to alter the images' metadata - the capture information embedded in the image - and used it to change the date and time the image files were created. Walker, she said, then devised a story to explain why the dates on the photos were wrong, and instructed her to email his attorney explaining the photos submitted as evidence were actually screenshots of the images and not the original files.
After her testimony, Walker's defense attorney, Dennis Null, laid into Griffith, implying she was not an innocent party along for the ride when it came to fabricating evidence. Null also said Griffith testified she had taken many of the actions she claimed were Walker's ideas.
Walker's trial will resume at 9 a.m. today in McCracken Circuit Court.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
"It was all very calculated and planned. Jerry told me that he was going to prove he was at the track meet, and that involved fabricating photographs, ordering wristbands and T-shirts, schooling me on what to say when I was questioned and a fabricated story for the 25th and his whereabouts."
Walker, 40, 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.
The former assistant principal was fired after administrators learned he was having an affair with 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.
The case against Walker relates to a state track meet on May 25, 2013, in Louisville, which he was supposed to attend as an 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.
Griffith was also charged for her role in the attempted deception. She pleaded guilty to the tampering charge and to felony perjury earlier this year.
In court Wednesday, much of Griffith's testimony focused on two neon-orange wristbands and three photographs, which she said Walker used in his attempted ruse.
When she and Walker returned from the Louisville trip, Griffith said they were each confronted regarding rumors they were having an affair. She said Walker worried for his job, prompting him to devise a plan to prove he had attended the track meet.
"He wanted to save his job," she said.
Griffith said Walker researched where to buy wristbands like the ones given at the track meet, and she helped him purchase them online using her computer and debit card. Walker saw photos from the meet on Facebook, in which attendees were wearing bright orange wristbands and found an online site where he could order "exact replicas," she said.
They purchased 100 wristbands for about $90, she said, and had them delivered to her house.
The next weekend, on June 22, 2013, she and Walker drove to Louisville and had lunch at the same Red Robin they had eaten at during their previous trip, a meal for which Walker had submitted a receipt requesting reimbursement. While there, Griffith took several photos of Walker wearing the wristband.
"Jerry wanted those pictures to present into evidence at his tribunal to try to make it look like he was there at the track meet," she said.
Griffith said Walker had also decided to wear a T-shirt from a previous school 5k event for the photos, because he thought it would look more believable.
"He told me he (wore the shirt) because it was running affiliated, so that would look more convincing in the photographs," she said.
At the restaurant, Griffith said Walker changed the time and date on his watch to match the submitted receipt, and gave her directions as to how to frame the photos, making sure she captured the wristband and his watch while including items on the table that showed the restaurant's name.
Griffith also alleged Walker ordered T-shirts that were sold at the track event and coached her on exactly what to say during the tribunal, which was held in July 2013.
Near the end of the tribunal, the tables turned, Griffith said, when Walker realized the school board was going to call a "photograph expert" to testify. Walker knew then he was going to lose his appeal, she said, which he did.
"Jerry told me that the picture that was submitted as evidence, the actual time stamp on the photograph showed June 22, 2013, and we had testified that the photo was taken on May 25, 2013," she said. "He told me he was going to find a way to change that."
Griffith said Walker found software that allowed him to alter the images' metadata - the capture information embedded in the image - and used it to change the date and time the image files were created. Walker, she said, then devised a story to explain why the dates on the photos were wrong, and instructed her to email his attorney explaining the photos submitted as evidence were actually screenshots of the images and not the original files.
After her testimony, Walker's defense attorney, Dennis Null, laid into Griffith, implying she was not an innocent party along for the ride when it came to fabricating evidence. Null also said Griffith testified she had taken many of the actions she claimed were Walker's ideas.
Walker's trial will resume at 9 a.m. today in McCracken Circuit Court.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
