Former State Rep. Perry Hooper, Jr. has filed a complaint against the City of Montgomery and Montgomery Police Department (MPD) Chief Darryl J. Albert concerning now-dropped charges of sexual abuse filed against Hooper in 2022.
Hooper was indicted on first-degree sex abuse charges on November 19, 2022, after Elizabeth Daly said he had grabbed her breast and waist while shoving his pelvis against her backside and kissing her neck at a restaurant on August 16.
In early December 2022, Daly requested the charges be dropped, which a circuit judge granted days later.
According to Hooper’s complaint, the alleged abuse took place inside the restaurant after hugging Daly and kissing her on the cheek to thank her, with no drama ensuing until nearly a week later.
The crux of Hooper’s complaint is that the entire debacle “was an obvious political setup by the Plaintiff’s political enemies.”
The complaint further accuses the arresting officer, MPD Detective Bryan Gozo, of lying before the grand jury at the behest of Albert.
According to Hooper’s attorney, Tommy Gallion, the Montgomery police have refused to turn over the records from the criminal investigation to this day. He further says that the interaction between Hooper and Daly “was so far removed from any sexual harassment.”
“I can just tell you this, the whole thing was orchestrated,” Gallion said. “Certain people that were behind this don’t like Perry Hooper because he’s a big-time Republican and Trump coordinator for Alabama.”
“What we’ve tried to do is get his police records, and the chief of police and the city will not give them to him," he added. "And the law is perfectly clear under the Alabama Open Records Act that any citizen can look at it. But they’re saying that they couldn’t let him look at them because he was under investigation. When I showed them where the DA had Nol Prossed [not prosecute] it and a circuit judge had dismissed it, then they changed their tune, but they still wouldn’t give it to us.”
Hooper and his team also question the existence of an official complaint from Daly because they have not received the police records.
The complaint alleges Daly was “used by certain people” and that Daly’s mother told Hooper that Daly had a “troubled past” and “her daughter had been used.”
Hooper apologized after the charges were dismissed, saying he was “wrong” and “my behavior was unacceptable.” Despite this apology, Hooper and his team assert that Daly’s “alleged complaint” is untrue.
“He didn’t mean it to be that he apologized for what he did," Gallion stated. "He apologized to her – she’s a troubled young lady – and he apologized to her for what she’s had to go through.”
“The girl waited four or five days to even file this alleged complaint; I don’t believe there was a complaint,” he continued. “You have to go down and file a criminal complaint. I may be wrong, but that’s one thing I want to see: is there an actual complaint?”
According to Gallion, a press release was sent out by the MPD, claiming the United States Marshal's Task Force has arrested Hooper, a claim Gallion denies outright.
“The whole press release is 80% fabricated,” Gallion said.
“What I have found out since I took the case, There was a press release that was sent out while Perry Hooper had not even been fingerprinted, photographed or officially arrested that said a federal marshal went and handcuffed him, and this [alleged abuse] happened on the 100 block of commerce street in front of a hotel to make it look bad, which was a complete lie; It happened in a crowded restaurant. I have dozens of witnesses who said it was laughable.”
Gallion said the complaint is meant to get the police records and that a civil lawsuit may be filed if the records show cause for any misconduct on behalf of MPD or other officials.
“I’ve dug into it and all I can say is, once I get the records, based on what I know, then it would probably be a good thing for these people that know who they are to lawyer up because they’ve ruined Perry Hooper’s life,” Gallion continued. “He’s lost every client. He lost a contract he’s had for 30-something years, so we’re going to expose it.”
See the full complaint here:
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To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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