Bernitts pledge to fight Wells' lawsuit

After County Councilman Scott Wells filed a lawsuit Monday naming Herman "Bud" and Amy Bernitt as defendants, the Bernitts plan to do one thing: "fight." \nWells's attorney, David Colman, filed the lawsuit on his behalf Monday.\nIn September 2002, the Bernitts had reported a man they did not recognize, who was later identified as Wells, as "staggering" and "driving in a dangerous and erratic manner" to the Indiana State Police, according to the Wells suit. \nWells hopes to prove he was falsely arrested, wrongfully imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted in his lawsuit against several defendants. Along with the Bernitts, the suit also includes the Indiana State Police and the State of Indiana. Wells' suit seeks to prove the testimony given by the defendants during the original trial was false.\n"There are a lot of things that are going to be brought forward if this does go to court," Bud Bernitt said. "But I hope a judge will look at it and throw it out because it's just another hellacious lawsuit brought forth by Mr. Wells and his attorney."\nIt has been a little more than two years since the September 2002 traffic stop in downtown Bloomington, and a little under a year since Wells was convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and disorderly conduct. \nBernitt said he thinks he will win if the case ends up going to trial.\n"We have been pounded in the press for two years and we are not going to sit back and take this -- we are going to fight and we are going to fight this thing vigorously," he said. "I'm not going to sit back and let this smear campaign go on against my wife and I and J.D. Maxwell, who passed away, or the other state troopers ... I'm not going to sit back and let this smear campaign go on against these men who did absolutely nothing wrong." \nFirst Sgt. Dave Bursten, spokesman for the Indiana State Police, said neither he nor his colleagues have received official notice of the case by press time and would not comment on any pending legislation.\nWells is seeking specific damages from each of the defendants, according to his lawsuit. \n"As to Defendant Herman "Bud" and Amy Bernitt, Scott Wells prays for a judgement adequate to compensate him for the consequences of their having made a false crime report and for the defamation and defamation per se which they committed against Scott D. Wells, and punitive damages all in an amount to be determined by a jury in this cause," the suit states.\nBud Bernitt said he doesn't have anything to hide.\n"I would go take a lie detector test anytime any place and WTIU can go film it and you reporters can be there," he said. "I'll even pay for Mr. Wells to go. We can go together and they can film the thing live." \n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu