Llano police chief, officers indicted
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
The attorney for Llano Police Chief Kevin Ratliff said Thursday his client has done nothing wrong and is looking forward to his case being “set for trial as soon as the law allows us.”
“Unless there is some evidence out there that I don't know of which convinces me otherwise, I believe my client has done nothing wrong,” said defense attorney Austin Shell. “I believe his presence prevented a situation from getting out of hand and he handled the situation calmly and coolly and his actions prevented a man from being tased.”
Ratliff and three of his current police officers were indicted Monday, Jan. 29, by a Llano County grand jury on charges of official oppression, a class A misdemeanor.One of the officers, Officer Grant Harden, was also indicted for tampering with a government document, a state jail felony.
In addition to Ratliff and Harden, Sgt. Jared Latta and Officer Aimee Shannon were also indicted on the official oppression charges. In a separate case, a former Llano police sergeant, Melissa “Lisa” Sloan, was indicted on a third-degree felony charge of tampering with evidence.
“All of the individuals who were indicted have turned themselves in and been bonded out and the next step will be to set their cases for arraignment,” said District Attorney Sonny McAfee. “That usually happens within about 30 days after the indictment.”
Shell said Ratliff is expected to plead not guilty at a March 2 arraignment hearing and a scheduling conference will be held a month later to set the case for trial.
According to the indicments, Harden is accused of unlawfully forcing a man, Corey Nutt, out of his home and arresting him on May 2, 2017, and failing to include that information on an official arrest report, which is a governmental record.
Shannon is accused of being present during an unlawful arrest and threatening to tase the victim in her capacity as a Llano police officer. Ratliff and Latta each are accused of knowing the arrest was unlawful and aiding in it.
Ratliff, Latta and Shannon were placed on administrative leave with pay after a complaint charging official misconduct was lodged with the Llano County District Sonny McAfee's office. Harden had already been placed on paid leave from a separate incident.
Shell said video of the incident shows a heated conversation between Nutt and Harden and Shannon over accusations Nutt was publicly intoxicated and failed to identify himself to officers. He said his client, Ratliff, went to the scene to help calm the situation down.
“By the time he gets there, Officer Shannon had already pointed her taser at this guy, who is like 6-foot and 300 pounds,” Shell said. “When the chief gets there, he de-escalates the situation briefly and arrests Nutt. He steps into his trailer, walks him down steps and puts him in handcuffs and arrests him.
“There is no evidence of violence or cussing from the chief and certainly no assault. I think a large part of that is because of how he handled it and de-escalated it. If (Nutt) had been tased while he was standing in the trailer, it would have been a two to three foot fall and he could have been hurt. Chief Ratliff's presence prevented that from happening.”
Shell said he believes the prosecution is taking a position that Nutt should not have been arrested because he was inside his own trailer, but added there is evidence Nutt was intoxicated while outside in public near the roadway prior to the confrontation and “this would have given officers discretion when there is a breach in the law.”
Should Ratliff or the other officers be convicted, they could be subject to having their licenses suspended by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE). A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000.
Sloan is accused of deleting a video file containing evidence in a case. She also has previously been accused of giving confidential information to someone outside law enforcement, resulting in a Class B misdemeanor charge.
The indictments leave the Llano Police Department scrambling to cover their city with just half of their eight officers available to serve.
Llano City Manager Scott Edmonson has said the city does not plan to hire any police officers to replace Ratliff, Latta, Harden and Shannon. City Council members did meet behind closed doors to discuss the matter with the city attorney on Monday, Jan. 22, but took no action following their executive session.
“We have the city covered with the four remaining officers and the Llano County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO),” Edmonson said.
He explained the sheriff’s office and the city have a memorandum of understanding that calls for sheriff’s deputies to back up city police officers when necessary.
Animal Control Officer and Patrolman Kenneth Poe is currently the acting chief of police. Three other officers — Bryan Scoggins, Eric Cushion and Ryan Tubbs — are all still active for the department, as is Ratliff's wife, Kristy, who serves as the department's administrative assistant.
