Notice Filed to Sue Judd Over Inquiry Remarks

A Lakeland lawyer has filed a notice to sue Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd for comments Judd made during the investigation of the videotaped beating of a Mulberry cheerleader.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood confirmed that lawyer Michele Bernard, representing Christina Garcia - the mother of one of the teens accused of beating Victoria Lindsay - filed a notice to sue Judd for remarks about Garcia's daughter, Mercades Nichols.

The Sheriff's Office has six months to respond to the letter before a formal lawsuit can be filed, Wood said.

Nichols is one of five girls who remain charged in the videotaped beating that has grabbed national attention on TV and the Internet.

Judd has been interviewed numerous times during the investigations and has been highly critical of the teenagers charged in the case.

At one point, a judge imposed a gag order in the case that was sought by a lawyer for one of the defendants. The attorney said Judd was "vilifying" the teenage suspects by calling them "animals" and saying they had a "pack mentality."

Another judge later vacated the gag order.

Originally, eight teenagers, six girls and two boys, were arrested. In June, charges were dropped against three defendants because of insufficient evidence.

The remaining defendants face kidnapping and battery charges stemming from the March 30 incident at a Highlands City home.

Sheriff's officials have said they planned to post the videotape on the Internet.