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January 11, 2013

Attorney for ex-Murray captain disputes subordinate’s claims

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

The attorney for a former Murray County Sheriff’s Office supervisor that one of his deputies said told him to withhold evidence in an investigation wants to set the record straight.

Ringgold attorney Larry Stagg claims his client, former sheriff’s office captain Michael Henderson, never gave ex-deputy Josh Greeson any directives surrounding a Murray County investigation.

“It’s a complicated situation, and I’m not really at liberty to get too much in depth, but he (Henderson) didn’t order him (Greeson) to not do anything,” Stagg said.

Henderson has not been indicted. On Wednesday, Greeson pleaded not guilty in federal court in Rome to charges that he lied during a Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry last summer and tried to conceal evidence.

Last summer, the GBI and FBI were asking questions after Greeson arrested a woman who had recently accused then-Murray County chief magistrate Bryant Cochran of soliciting her for sexual favors and charged her with possession of methamphetamine. Investigators later said someone, not Greeson, planted the meth on her vehicle.

Henderson and Cochran are cousins.

Greeson said after the court proceeding Wednesday he was told at least several days before the arrest to be on the lookout for the vehicle. He said Henderson told him not to say anything about the lookout, and he initially did as he was told but later felt guilty and told investigators the truth. Greeson said he withheld the information only because Henderson wanted him to, and he was afraid of what Henderson would do if he told.

“I can deny that on behalf of Mr. Henderson,” Stagg said Thursday.

Then-sheriff Howard Ensley fired both Greeson and Henderson in August 2012 after he said they lied to investigators and tried to conceal evidence. Greeson said he deleted some photos of the drugs on his cellphone, but he said he did it because he didn’t want the memory of the pictures and periodically deletes items, not because he was trying to hide anything.

Stagg said Henderson was accused of lying because he told investigators he had not talked with anyone about the case. Stagg said Henderson had talked with fellow officers in the department about Garmley’s case, but he didn’t think investigators were asking about that.

“There’s been an allegation that Mr. Henderson was asked a very general question like, ‘Have you talked to anybody about the case?’ and he said, ‘No, I haven’t’ ... not thinking that his fellow officers were part of that question. He assumed it was media and other people, and his cousin, of course.”

Stagg said his client is cooperating with investigators. Greeson is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on Jan. 23.

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