Current Justice of the Peace Lloyd Franklin Jr., has been accused of libel and slander by variety of people, including Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson, the Judge’s wife Joni Alexander Robinson, the County Road Superintendent Ricky Bullard, the owner of the P3 Construction Company Dee Brown, and Robert Daniels.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in Jefferson County Circuit Court alleges Franklin made a number of false statements in a “violations narrative” that accompanied a letter sent to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee.
In the narrative, Franklin alleged Gerald Robinson was corrupt, misappropriated funds for his personal use, had committed extortion and fraud, had accepted illegal campaign contributions and did business illegally with campaign contributors, and multiple other statements that were not true.
The court filing said Franklin knew the statements were not true and asked for a court order declaring the statements as being false. In addition, the plaintiffs are asking a judge to issue an injunction prohibiting Franklin from making any further false and defamatory statements and to retract statements he had previously made.
In a statement to the Pine Bluff Commercial, Franklin said the lawsuit is “aimed at whistleblowers who have exposed evidence of corruption.”
He went on to complain that the substance of the allegations were not being addressed and the lawsuit “seeks to silence those who have acted in the best interest of transparency and accountability.”
“The public deserves better,” Franklin said.
