Woman enlists attorney in wake of accused Calhoun officer’s firing, arrest

By Deborah Buckhalter

Published: April 30, 2008

An attorney is now advising the woman who appeared in a videotape which had a role in the firing and subsequent arrest of former Calhoun County correctional officer William “Billy” Strawn.

Thomas Brown, of Brown and Brown Attorneys at Law, PA in Tallahassee, confirmed Wednesday that he has been retained to serve as Lisa Vaughn’s lawyer.
Brown declined to make an immediate comment on Vaughn’s behalf, citing ongoing investigations into the alleged incident, but said he expects to make a statement in the near future.

The videotape turned over to Calhoun County Sheriff David Tatum a few days ago led to charges of bribery and solicitation of prostitution against Strawn, who had worked for the sheriff’s office seven years.

Strawn served as a transport officer for Tatum at the time of his arrest.

In the videotape, Strawn is seen talking to Vaughn at a residence in Altha. Strawn had taken her home from jail a few hours before he went off duty and returned to her house in his personal car, Tatum said.

In a press release about the case last week, Tatum advised that Strawn allegedly went to the woman’s home in Altha and “engaged in a negotiation for sex.” She had been released from jail earlier that day after her charges were resolved, according to a press release from Tatum’s office.

Vaughn’s husband was still in jail and awaiting further court action in his case, and she “was asking Officer Strawn for special consideration for her husband in exchange for sex,” according to the press release, which went on to say that “Officer Strawn participated in this negotiation and may have initiated it; however, it was ended when family members interrupted.”

According to Tatum, some male members of Vaughn’s family beat up Strawn shortly after the encounter was recorded.

This wasn’t the first time Strawn allegedly ran afoul of his employer’s rules. Tatum said he disciplined Strawn in 2004 because he let a woman drive his patrol car around in a Blountstown park.

Strawn, a deputy rather than a correctional officer at that time, was stripped of that duty and lost his annual leave time as well as the position he’d risen to in the “pecking order” of the department.

Tatum said officers are numbered, with Tatum being number one and the others falling in line behind, depending on their status. Strawn was officer 10 at the time and fell to the end of the line to position 20 or 21 after the 2004 incident.

Strawn could not be reached for comment on the matter.

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