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Published on KnoxViews (http://southknoxbubba.net)

Harber report: no charges at this time

By R. Neal
Created Jan 27 2007 - 08:38

Sheriff Tim HutchisonSheriff Tim Hutchison has released his final report on the Tyler Harber affair. According to reporters, a spokesperson from his office distributed the report last night at the City County building in two-inch thick three-ring binders containing hundreds of pages of documents, interviews, and investigative reports.

The media says it will take a while to wade through all the documents, so more reports will coming out over the next few days. The Sheriff's Office says more documents will be released next week.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the records "list possible violations of several laws, but they give no indication that Harber will be charged..."

Here are some highlights from the first round.

Knoxville News Sentinel updated report [1]:

But a Sheriff's Office summary of an analysis of his Knox County-issued computer indicates investigators found documents related to various political campaigns, as well as contracts and invoices for his side job as a political consultant that were entered into the system during regular business hours.

"When Harber's office was thoroughly searched as part of the investigation, no evidence of any Knox County Probation employment was found," the summary states.

WBIR [2]:

The overall tone is accusatory. [..]

The criminal offenses section also addresses how Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale came to possess copies of a GOP leader's emails. "If Ragsdale's intent in issuing the false statement was to protect Tyler Harber," the report reads, "then Ragsdale was obstructing or hindering, at that time, the location of a person suspected of committing a crime."

WATE [3]:

The report also plainly states that Harber used his Knox County computer for a variety of political activities and did very little Knox County work.

WVLT [4]:

This a lengthy report and we are going to take some time to sift through the documents before we share them with you.

It must have been a long night for local reporters. Betty Bean has probably been up all night and her report ought to be interesting, although it's doubtful it will make Monday's edition of the Shopper. Early reports seem to corroborate some of what Tyler Harber said in his exclusive series of interviews [5] with her for the Halls Shopper.

Does this report close the books, or open a new chapter?

UPDATE: Blogger Terry Frank has apparently had a look at the report and has some more choice excerpts [6].

(NOTE: For background, see this KnoxViews collection [7].)


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