Jury awards Louisville man $24 million in civil-rights lawsuit against Meade County

A federal jury awarded Jeffrey Clark $24.35 million in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages on Wednseday, April 29 in a civil-rights lawsuit, Clark vs. Meade County. The case arose from a wrongful conviction case that was overturned in 2018 and exonerated Clark and Keith Hardin of the "satanic" murder of 19 year-old Rhonda Sue Warford in Meade County in 1992. The two had served 22 years before being released from a life sentence after the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the vacating of their convictions.

The lawsuit alleged that then Sheriff Joseph Greer and Coroner Bill Adams created a "sham investigation" that included using white-out to change offense reports and the death certificate to work around the alibis that Clark and Hardin had. Clark also claimed that he was held at gunpoint in an interrogation room for over eight hours in an attempt to coerce a confession from him, and Greer concealed the fact that he knew two of the witnesses in the trial were dishonest and providing false testimony against Clark and Hardin.

"Defendants framed Jeff for a crime he didn't commit when he was just a young kid," says attorney Elliot Slosar. "Jeff lost his life and wasn't set free until he was in his mid-40s. Upon verifying Jeff's alibi, Defendants had two paths: find the true killer or manipulate the evidence. They chose option 2 and ruined Jeff's life in the process.”

He went on to add, "The jury courageously held Meade County accountable for their egregious failure to train. This verdict is a clear message to the defendants and anyone else deliberately framing innocent people: your misconduct will someday unravel, and you will be held accountable for what you have done."

The jury found for Clark on claims of: 1) withheld exculpatory evidence (Greer); 2) fabrication of evidence (Greer and Adams); 3) failure to intervene (Greer and Adams); and 5) failure to train, led to the violation of Clark's constitutional rights. Therefore, $24.35 million was awarded to Clark in compensatory damages against Meade County and $74,791.75 was awarded to him in punitive damages against former Coroner Adams.

Meade County Judge/Executive Troy Kok released the following statement:

"A verdict was rendered Wednesday, April 29, 2026 in the Clark vs Meade County case, and it is under evaluation as to our next course of action. Until our legal counsel completes their assessment, we have no further comment."