By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, The Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Maryville woman charged with running down two police officers with a stolen luxury car during a high-speed chase blamed her passenger Thursday in an $11 million civil lawsuit.
Fallon Tallent, 21, claims Dorothy Cash, 33, of Knoxville, forced her to smoke crack cocaine, told her to flee police and grabbed the steering wheel of the stolen Mercedes-Benz as they approached tire spike strips deployed by officers on Interstate 40 in Wilson County.
“As a result of the actions of defendant Cash, the vehicle driven by the plaintiff struck and killed the two officers and crashed into a police vehicle,” the lawsuit said.
Tallent was charged with two counts of felony murder and premeditated first-degree murder in the July 9 deaths of Mt. Juliet Police Sgt. Jerry Mundy, 43, and Wilson County Sheriff’s Deputy John Musice, 49.
She is being held on $4 million bond at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
Cash, who was served with court papers at the Knox County Jail, where she is being held on drug possession charges, was never charged in the fatal crash.
“Our whole deal is Fallon did what she did,” her lawyer David Boyd said. “She shouldn’t have been using crack. She shouldn’t have been driving at a high rate of speed. She shouldn’t have been running from the cops. She shouldn’t have been doing any of that.
“But, by golly, there is enough blame to go around for everybody. And for Dorothy Cash to get off completely scot-free and for her to be the star witness for the state, that’s just not the way it should be.”
Cash gave authorities a statement, but Assistant District Attorney Robert Hibbett refused to say what role she will play in Tallent’s prosecution.
“There are no charges against Dorothy Cash,” he said. “Talking about criminal cases in general, I think you can surmise that if there are no criminal charges it is from a lack of evidence.”
Anna Friedberg, an attorney in the Knox County public defender’s office, which is representing Cash on the unrelated drug charges, said the office would have no comment on the lawsuit.
The suit claims Tallent was going to Nashville to meet with her parole officer and Cash agreed to accompany her. Cash brought the crack, the lawsuit alleges.
The pair were first spotted by police in a Knoxville housing project. Officers chased them for a while, then broke it off. The pair encountered officers again in Wilson County.
The lawsuit claims in both cases that Cash threatened to tell officers the cocaine was Tallent’s if Tallent stopped for them.
As the pair neared Mt. Juliet, “two officers attempted to stop the vehicle carrying the plaintiff and defendant Cash by the use and deployment of a spike strip system,” the lawsuit said.
“Upon seeing the spike strip system, defendant Cash intentionally grabbed the steering wheel of the vehicle and a struggle ensued. Defendant Cash’s actions placed the vehicle on a collision course with the officers and a police squad car,” and ended in the crash.
Wilson County Circuit Court Judge John Wootten will consider Dec. 1 a defense request to move the trial to another location because of prejudicial publicity. He has scheduled the trial to begin Feb. 3.