A civil lawsuit has been filed against Lincoln County Sheriff Gerald Lawson in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia by Ernie Guthrie, also of Lincoln County.

The $1.5 million lawsuit, which was filed in Augusta on Wednesday, April 11, requests a trial by jury on the following counts:

(1) Cruel and unusual punishment.

"On or about May, 2005, defendant Gerald Lawson began to interfere with the civil rights of plaintiff Ernie Guthrie …," according to the court document. "The plaintiff is not entirely sure at this time why defendant Lawson, shortly after being elected, began to target him as being involved with illegal narcotics and continues to do so at the present time, seeking information of such activity from nearly everyone whom the sheriff's department arrests for drug violations, despite repeated evidence to the contrary. The defendant's motivations are either political retribution, as the plaintiff did not support him for sheriff, or are triggered by some other unknown factor at this time.

"However, the plaintiff shows that the defendant, in May of 2005, hired a deputy specifically for undercover narcotics work and directed this deputy to follow the plaintiff for any illegal drug activity…The deputy ultimately reported to the defendant that there was absolutely no evidence of any drug activity by the plaintiff."

The lawsuit goes on to note that around late May or early June, a customer at Guthrie's convenience store told him that he (Guthrie) and three other local businessmen were being investigated by the sheriff and the FBI.

"The defendant did not deny the investigation, but told the plaintiff and (some of) the other businessmen that an inmate had given him their names, and that because this was so big, (he) had to turn the matter over to the FBI.

"Upon this development becoming public, the defendant began to tell inconsistent stories, telling some people the investigation was so big he had to let the FBI handle it, while later telling others that there never was an investigation … The plaintiff later learned that the inmate on whom the defendant based the federal drug investigation denied ever telling the defendant that the plaintiff was involved in any drug activity …"

Through the Freedom of Information Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Guthrie was informed last September that "'No records responsive to your request were located by a search of the automated and manual indices.' The plaintiff shows and states that there was never any federal drug investigation against him."

At the conclusion of the narrative on this count, the lawsuit contends that as a result of the sheriff's false accusations, Guthrie suffered emotional and mental distress. "The defendant's actions resulted in the intentional infliction of severe emotional distress caused by the egregious and outrageous conduct of the defendant. The defendant, under color of law, acted with reckless disregard toward the plaintiff's constitutional rights in telling the plaintiff he was under a federal investigation, which was not true, and by doing so, subjected the plaintiff to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

(2) Due process.

The document notes that "The actions of the defendant…were designed to malign the honor, integrity, reputation, and good name of the plaintiff so as to reduce the plaintiff's political effectiveness against the defendant in later re-election bids without giving the plaintiff the notice and opportunity to be heard."

The plaintiff was "denied life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness under the Procedural Due Process Clause of the Constitution of the United States."

(3) Slander. "The defendant, by telling the plaintiff that he was under federal investi- gation when there was never any such federal investigation of the plaintiff and repeating this to others within Lincoln County, Georgia, on or after June 2, 2006, when there was never any credible corroborated evidence to assert or support such a claim, nor is there at the present time, has slandered the plaintiff."

In addition to the $1.5 million, Guthrie is also asking that he be awarded attorney fees, costs, and expenses as well as "punitive damages in an amount this court deems just and fair, so as to send a clear message that the actions herein of the defendant will not be tolerated by civilized society."

Guthrie declined to comment on the civil suit under the advice of counsel.

John Dunsmore, Jr. is serving as the attorney for the plaintiff.

Sheriff Lawson also declined to comment on the matter.