Milwaukee County says inmate awarded $7M lied, seeks retrial

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee County is asking a judge for a new trial in the case of a former inmate who was awarded nearly $7 million after alleging she was sexually assaulted while pregnant in jail and forced to give birth while in shackles.

County lawyers told WITI-TV that the former inmate’s ex-boyfriend, who is the father of her child, said they made up the rape allegation to get money. The county said the ex-boyfriend, Ivan Boyd, said he asked a guard at the jail to bring his girlfriend food but no sexual contact occurred between them.

Russell Ainsworth, the woman’s attorney, said Boyd’s claims are false.

“It is absurd and the county has bought it hook, line and sinker,” Ainsworth said.

Ainsworth said Boyd isn’t a new witness in the case and that investigators interviewed him many years ago.
Ainsworth has asked the judge to throw out the county’s appeal, saying the county is re-victimizing the woman.

The county argues that a jury should get a chance to hear Boyd’s testimony.

The guard was never convicted of sexual assault. The charges were dismissed in a plea deal in which he pleaded no contest to felony misconduct in public office. He was sentenced to three days in jail and fined $200.