Falsely Accused Georgia Man Sues Floyd County After Spending 22 Years in Prison

A Georgia man who spent more than two decades in prison for a murder he didn’t commit has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Floyd County and several law enforcement officials, alleging they fabricated evidence and concealed crucial information that could have proven his innocence.

Joseph “Joey” Watkins filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on May 30, seeking monetary damages under federal civil rights law. The lawsuit names Floyd County, along with six current and former law enforcement officers from the Floyd County Police Department and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Watkins was convicted in 2001 for the shooting death of 20-year-old Isaac Dawkins, who was killed while driving on Highway 27 in Rome in January 2000. Dawkins died from a single gunshot to the head, with witnesses reporting his truck had been interacting with a blue Honda before veering off the roadway.

According to the lawsuit, Rome Police Detective Jim Moser initially investigated Watkins as a suspect but cleared him after a thorough investigation. Cell phone records and witness statements proved Watkins could not have been at the scene when the shooting occurred, the filing states.

The case took a different turn when Floyd County Police took over the investigation. The lawsuit alleges Floyd police investigators Stanley Sutton, Tommy Shiflett, and Bill Shiflett ignored the exculpatory evidence and instead manufactured a case against Watkins using false witness statements.

“The ‘evidence’ used to secure Watkins’s arrest and conviction was fabricated by FCPD investigators,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit claims investigators placed reward flyers in the Floyd County Jail and coerced false statements from inmates and other witnesses. Among those providing allegedly false testimony was Josh Flemister, who the lawsuit says was interrogated while impaired in a Virginia motel room.

Perhaps most damaging to the original case was evidence about a dead dog found near Dawkins’s grave. Prosecutors argued at trial that Watkins had shot the dog as his “signature” or “calling card.” However, the lawsuit reveals that forensic testing showed the dog was killed with a .22 caliber bullet, not the 9mm weapon used to kill Dawkins.

GBI forensic specialist Francis “Jay” Jarvis allegedly concealed this crucial evidence from prosecutors, even transporting the .22 bullet to the courthouse while testifying that he didn’t know what type of bullet killed the dog.

The lawsuit says the concealed evidence also included the results of cell tower investigations conducted by both Rome Police and Floyd County investigators that proved it was impossible for Watkins to have been at the crime scene when Dawkins was shot.

Watkins was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in July 2001. He maintained his innocence throughout more than two decades of incarceration, during which he suffered physical injuries including a broken nose and hernia that went untreated for years.

The Georgia Innocence Project took on Watkins’s case in 2011, but their efforts were allegedly hampered by law enforcement’s continued concealment of evidence. It wasn’t until 2016 that crucial documents were finally uncovered through persistent public records requests.

In 2022, a habeas court judge granted Watkins a new trial, finding that the concealed evidence about the dog would likely have prevented its admission at trial altogether. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed that decision in December 2022.

Watkins was released on bond in January 2023 after spending 22 years and two months behind bars. The charges against him were formally dismissed in September 2023.

The federal lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the defendants, alleging violations of Watkins’s constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial. The complaint also claims Floyd County failed to properly train and supervise its officers, creating a culture that allowed such misconduct to occur.

Floyd County has purchased liability insurance that waives governmental immunity, according to the lawsuit. The individual defendants are being sued in their personal capacities.

Watkins is represented by attorneys from Pfeiffer Rudolf and Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial. The case has been assigned to the Rome Division of the Northern District of Georgia.

The lawsuit represents the latest chapter in a case that has already resulted in significant changes to how evidence is handled in criminal prosecutions. For Watkins, now in his mid-40s, it’s an opportunity to hold accountable those he says stole more than half his life.