A federal jury has found Hendrix guilty of a smear campaign targeting two Cumming developers who supported a referendum in 1998 that would have created a countywide police department and reduced the powers of the sheriff.
The jury awarded Danny Bennet three-point-six million dollars and Danny Reid three-point-one million.
The attorneys for Hendrix contend the suit was in retaliation for their client's stand against the political establishment in Forsyth County --- and they vow to appeal the verdict.
Last fall, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal from Hendrix, who asked that the case not be allowed to go to trial because, he said, Reid and Bennett should have to demonstrate that the his actions had some actual, non-speculative chilling effect on their First Amendment rights.
Hendrix was elected sheriff in 1996 and lost a 2000 re-election bid.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/5/90483