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Cleared Woman Sues Tampa Police Over Media Statements

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 25, 2008

Updated: 07/25/2008 11:26 am

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Tamika Lane-Gardner

TAMPA - A former school aide who was cleared of charges she molested a 6-year-old is suing the Tampa Police Department, charging that officials violated her rights and cast her in a false light when speaking to the media about the case.

Tamika Lane-Gardner's life was shattered two years ago after she was charged with felony sexual battery and charged with molesting the girl in a bathroom at Walton Academy for the Performance Arts, a Central Tampa charter school where Lane- Gardner worked as an office assistant.

Lane-Gardner spent 10 days in jail – most of that in solitary confinement – after her arrest before she was able to post bail, according to a lawsuit filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court last week and transferred to federal court this week.

Charges were later dropped by the state attorney's office after Lane-Gardner passed a lie-detector test and officials said there was no evidence to prove the charge. The state attorney's office also said there were credibility problems with the alleged victim.

Lane-Gardner's criminal defense attorneys informed the state attorney's office that in fall 2004 the child's mother had made "a strikingly similar accusation of sexual impropriety against a woman at a day care facility to whom the mother owed money." The state attorney's office was also informed that "the godmother of the alleged victim had firsthand knowledge of the alleged victim's mother coaching the alleged victim as to what to say happened" at the day care center.

By the time the charge was dropped, Lane-Gardner, the mother of two young children, "had incurred thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees and costs in defending herself from the sexual battery charge," the lawsuit states. She also suffered "severe emotional damages, damage to her reputation" and was "socially isolated and ostracized" because of statements made to the media by police spokesman Larry McKinnon, the lawsuit states.

The suit says Lane-Gardner now likely has to disclose her arrest on future applications for employment. Her arrest information still appears on the Hillsborough County sheriff's Web site "for all to see."

The suit quotes McKinnon as telling reporters, "There was a penetration of the child, and that's what determines the case of sexual battery as opposed to lewd and lascivious or inappropriate touching." But, according to the lawsuit, there was no evidence of any penetration in the case.

"The City of Tampa has a policy, practice and/or custom that encourages or allows TPD employees to intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, misrepresent material facts about pending cases to the media," the lawsuit alleges. This practice "contributed to a violation of Mrs. Lane-Gardner's constitutional rights."

The lawsuit also charges that the city and police chief permitted a pattern of "unjustified and unreasonable and illegal imprisonment by police officers."

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy wouldn't comment on the lawsuit. "Our policy doesn't allow us to comment on pending litigation," she said.

McKinnon, who now works for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, likewise said he couldn't comment on pending litigation.

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