After a weeklong trial, a federal jury found that former Rock Island County Sheriff Jeffery Boyd did not act within the scope of his employment when he harassed, threatened, and stalked a  woman he was romantically interested in. In 2014, Boyd pled guilty to attempted official misconduct and resigned in disgrace after a state police investigation confirmed that he had been stalking and harassing the plaintiff for months through hundreds of text messages, unwanted romantic gifts delivered to her home, and stalking at her residence and employment. He pulled her over and threatened arrest, wrote secret tickets that he held over her head without actually issuing them, prevented her from attending her gym, and called her dirty names when she did not respond to his texts. The jury found that his conduct violated her civil right to equal protection under the law and caused her severe emotional distress, awarding her $25,000 in compensatory damages and $275,000 in punitive damages against Boyd. The jury also found that Boyd’s actions were not taken within the scope of his employment as sheriff of Rock Island, and thus the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office and Rock Island County were not responsible for his misconduct. Michael Condon and Yordana Wysocki represented the Sheriff’s Office and County at trial in Favela v. Boyd, et al, No. 4:15-cv-04028 (C.D. Ill., judgement 10/16/20).