ADAMS COUNTY - The Adams County Sheriff says he still believes he did nothing wrong, despite a jury verdict on Thursday that awarded his one-time political adversary more than $100,000.
"There was nothing political about this," said Sheriff Doug Darr on Friday.
Don't count on Sgt. Mark Nicastle to take the sheriff at his word however. Last year, Nicastle filed a federal lawsuit against Sheriff Darr alleging that Darr was, among other things, trying to railroad Nicastle's campaign against the two-term sheriff.
On Thursday, a federal jury sided with Nicastle and awarded the 32-year veteran of the Adams County Sheriff's Office $99,000 for emotional distress and suffering and $24,600 for back pay. The jury also awarded Nicastle $1.00 for punitive damages for "extreme misconduct."
Nicastle says he first started to publically talk about running for sheriff in 2006, shortly after he helped support Sheriff Darr in Darr's latest campaign. He knew he'd have to wait, but was perfectly content with waiting until 2010 when he thought Sheriff Darr would be unable to run again because of term limits.
"I'd been taking steps politically in that direction, so it seemed like the moons were lining up for me to launch it," he said.
Shortly thereafter, he alleged, things started to become difficult for him inside the department. He said Sheriff Darr started to take away previously approved vacation time. Nicastle said he was going to use some of that time to campaign. "(One day), he literally walks into my supervisor's office," said Nicastle, "and has (my supervisor) look up on a computer to see if I'm taking vacation, and then he literally tells that supervisor to cancel that vacation."
The long-time lieutenant was also demoted, after a number of internal affairs investigations that Nicastle believed were politically motivated.
"(Darr) sent me to the streets as a patrol sergeant and then later - when the campaign started to kick off and I hadn't gone away - he put me in a desk job," he said.
In 2009, voters in Adams County decided to change the law and allow a sheriff to have three terms. Not long thereafter, Sheriff Darr decided to run again.
"The sheriff didn't just punish (Nicastle) so he could defeat him, he also punished him so he could tarnish his reputation," said attorney Don Sisson who argued the case with his partner Reid Elkus.
Sisson said the verdict should send a clear message to "any other boss out there that's in an elected position that has his political opponent under his thumb. Guess what? You can't do the things that Sheriff Darr did to Mr. Nicastle."
Sheriff Darr said he's disappointed with the verdict and insisted he wasn't capable of improperly trashing the reputation of a competitor.
"I understand that people believe that is true, but I didn't and I couldn't," he said.
A federal judge will have to decide what to do next when it comes to Nicastle's future employment.
He's been on paid leave for months, and is now eligible to return, but the judge could decide the work environment to be "too hostile" for a return and award him what's known as "front pay" instead.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)