By Jerry Markon
Staff Reporter
Ex-deputy testifies in probe | A former Tipton County, Tenn., sheriff’s deputy who was recently exonerated on charges of shooting his partner testified Wednesday before a federal grand jury probing alleged corruption in the county.
Jimmy Hicks, a former narcotics investigator, refused to discuss his testimony before the panel.
Hicks was charged by state officials last December with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his partner, Tipton County Sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Rose. Rose was shot in the head Nov. 28 at his office in Covington and died the next day at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis.
A circuit court judge dismissed the charges against Hicks in February. However, FBI agents also are investigating circumstances surrounding the shooting as part of a two-year probe into the Tipton County Sheriff’s Department. Rose met with FBI agents at least once before his death.
Grand jury members also heard testimony Wednesday from Jimmy Anderson, a Tipton County Sheriff’s investigator and Anne Sanders, Sheriff Wayne Baskin’s secretary. Both declined to discuss their testimony. The panel will continue hearing testimony next month.
The panel has been looking into allegations of illegal drug and alcohol sales and gambling in the county, according to earlier grand jury witnesses. Grand jury members have also been examining Tipton County Sheriff’s Department and Circuit Court records dating back to 1976, and the criminal records of at least 16 county residents, including several nightclub owners.
FBI agents, in conjunction with the grand jury probe, have been investigating three unsolved killings in Tipton County, including the Rose shooting and the slayings of two auto mechanics.
Baskin said Hicks’ employment with the sheriff’s department ended April 1, but he declined to cite the circumstances.
[Ex-deputy testifies in probe; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 20 Apr 1989; Pg 49]
