Boone Co. Commonwealth's Attorney Sues Whistleblower

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 7:27 AM

By Mike Perleberg (Boone County, Ky.) - Two secret audio recordings are at the center of a lawsuit between the Boone County commonwealth's attorney and a former law clerk. The recordings show commonwealth's attorney Linda Tally-Smith reprimanding former clerk Nick Ramler about his attitude at work and a response by the clerk that he had found correspondence that showed Tally-Smith had a sexual relationship with a former investigator for the Boone County Sheriff's Office. Ramler was fired from the commonwealth attorney's office 17 days after the conversation. The attorney is suing the clerk alleging he blackmailed her to avoid termination. Some of the documents uncovered and made public by Ramler could result in a new trial for convicted Boone County murderer David Dooley. A former janitor at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Florence, Dooley, 42, is serving a life sentence for the murder of co-worker Michelle Mockbee in 2012. The Boone County Republican Party has voted to not ask Tally-Smith to resign from office. However, the party could consider making that request once an investigation by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office is complete. RELATED STORIES: Dooley Retrial Hearings End; Weeks Before Judge Makes Ruling Dooley Attorney Focuses On Affair Between Prosecutor, Lead Investigator Withheld Security Footage May Result In Florence Murder Retrial Retrial Possible In Workplace Murder