RACINE COUNTY, Wis. — A Racine County public defender confessed to falsely accusing a sheriff’s deputy of abusing a jail inmate.
Cole Covey plead guilty to obstructing an officer in court yesterday.
Covey had been given additional time to speak with a client inside of the courthouse in March between back to back court appearances. However, his client had began to walk away, at which time a deputy moved to take her back to the county jail.
Covey had pushed himself in front of the deputy and his client as they were walking, at which point the deputy pushed passed him.
Around an hour after the initial incident, Covey sent a letter to the deputy’s supervisor falsely alleging that the deputy had shoved the inmate.
He wrote “My client was shackled and braced herself against the shoves so both times she was pushed to the point of striking her face against the wall. This was the most flagrant misconduct I have ever personally observed from a CO.”
Covey then went on to offer to provide additional information to “address this disgusting abuse of power” that he said he witnessed.
Despite the claims, body camera video, witness statements, and a lack of physical evidence proved that the allegations were false.
Covey doubled down when interviewed, claiming that the incident is what he “thought” happened.
He eventually admitted to lying in court. He has been ordered to pay a thousand-dollar fine and he also must report his conduct to the Wisconsin State Bar’s Office.
“His words were not mistakes, they were intentional false allegations that put a deputy’s thirty-year career and reputation at risk and could have resulted in a criminal conviction and jail time,” says Sheriff Schmaling.
