A federal jury awarded over $24 million to a Louisville man for damages related to a lawsuit from a civil rights lawsuit in connection to a 1992 Meade County murder.
Jeffrey Clark was awarded $24.35 million in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages on Wednesday (4/29) in a civil-rights lawsuit against 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.
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.
Meade County Judge Executive Troy Kok issued the following statement On Thursday (4/30). “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.”
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