Case involving Live PD still not resolved (2024)

A lawsuit accusing Berkeley County and Big Fish Entertainment of the Arts and Entertainment Network (A&E) is still winding through the Berkeley County court system.

According to court documents, Big Fish and A&E settled with the plaintiff through mediation on Jan. 24.

The case was filed in March 2022 by a Berkeley County resident who claims he was slandered because he was falsely arrested. The arrest was broadcast on the TV show Live PD, which has since been canceled.

According to the court summons, the announcer on the show falsely reported deputies were serving a family violence warrant on the plaintiff at his home. Information from the documents states the officers approached the home with weapons drawn, surrounded the house, and called for backup, falsely insinuating the plaintiff was a violent and dangerous criminal.

According to the lawsuit, deputies arrested the plaintiff by entering his home on March 13, 2020. Still, they would not say why he was being arrested. The plaintiff’s attorney said no warrant for family violence existed. Court documents show no warrant affidavit was served on the plaintiff before his arrest, during his time in custody or after his release. The summons shows the person arrested appeared at a bond hearing on March 14, 2020. The judge told the plaintiff he had no idea why he had been arrested, he had no charges against him and he was to be released without bond. There since have been no charges stemming from the March 13, 2020, incident.

The attorney in the lawsuit, who did not want to be named to protect his client’s privacy, said his client has been through a lot since the broadcast.

“It is absolutely disgraceful that the Berkeley County Government and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office would partner with a television network to broadcast the most embarrassing moments of their own citizenship’s lives on national television so that a broadcast company can make profits from it,” the attorney said.

Story continues below

The settlement amount from A&E and Big Fish Entertainment could not be disclosed as part of the legal agreement. However, Berkeley County is still involved in the case.

The popular show Live PD began airing in November of 2019 on A&E. It was produced so commentators could bounce in and out of live responses. It ran for three hours on Friday and Saturday nights. Berkeley County debuted on Nov. 15, 2019, and was later asked to be on the show regularly, along with several other departments nationwide.

Since Live PD was canceled, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office joined another show with the same premise, On Patrol Live, on the Reelz network.

In a previous interview, Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said such shows help his agency and county residents.

“I think it does a couple of different things,” he said. “No. 1, it informs [the public] of what’s going on in their county and their community. And it is a very good recruitment tool, I think. It’s also a way to show people how transparent we really are.”

If there are no continuances or additional mediation, the matter will be tried at the Berkeley County Courthouse on Feb. 26.

The Berkeley Independent reached out to Berkeley County officials for comment on the case. A county spokesperson stated they cannot comment on pending litigation.