Deputy awarded $225,000 in libel suit

VALDOSTA - A jury awarded $225,000 Friday to a sheriff&#39;s deputy who claimed he was libeled by articles in a weekly newspaper following the death of a man who died in the Lowndes County Jail. <br> <br> Kevin Farmer sued the Lake Park Post, its publisher and the writer of the stories involving the September 1998 death of Willie James Williams. <br> <br> Former state Attorney General Mike Bowers said he hoped the verdict would restore Farmer&#39;s good name and standing in the community, which he argued during the four-day trial had been severely harmed by the Post&#39;s reporting. <br> <br> Bowers told the jury the stories contended that the deputy beat Williams, even after several investigations had cleared him. <br> <br> The jury deliberated less than three hours before finding for Farmer and holding the Post, publisher Charles Moore and reporter Al Parsons responsible for $65,000 each in compensatory damages and another $10,000 each in punitive damages for the malicious content of the accounts. <br> <br> Post attorney Converse Bright said the decision likely would be appealed.