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Couple Charged With Filing False Report

Couple Accused Police Of Excessive Force

POSTED: 4:06 pm CDT July 22, 2008
UPDATED: 6:14 pm CDT July 22, 2008

A piece of police video could be key in a rare case in which two people are accused of filling a false police report.

Video: Spring Hill Residents Accused Of Filing False Report

According to Rachel Clifton, she was "yanked" from her car by Franklin police Officer David Edwards, but police said dash cam video reveals a different story.

Clifton claimed she was "handcuffed," "grabbed" and "pulled out of the vehicle."

After an investigation cleared Edwards, a Williamson County grand jury indicted Clifton and her husband Gregory Clifton on charges of filing a false report.

"It showed that the suspects in this case were clearly lying. The officers had not done anything that they had alleged in their written complaint in the department," said Franklin police Sgt. Charles Warner.

The Cliftons were pulled over on suspicion of a taillight violation shortly after leaving a Franklin bowling alley on June 1.

The traffic stop happened at around 1:30 a.m. at Interstate 65 south and Murfreesboro Road. Franklin police officers Edwards and Brett Spivey also cited the couple on marijuana possession, then let the couple go on their way.

Several hours later, the Cliftons went to the police department and filed an excessive force complaint against Edwards.

When the video helped clear the officer, the department fought back.

Two weeks after the initial stop, the Cliftons were arrested at their home in Spring Hill and charged with filing a false report.

"A group of these people's peers -- citizens of this county -- sat and listened to all of the evidence and concluded that these people did violate that law," Warner said.

When police showed up at the Cliftons' home, they said they found more marijuana.

The filing a false report charge is a class D felony. Another drug charge against the couple is pending, police said.

Officials said the Cliftons refused a lie detector test that was offered to them before the indictment.


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