Day 3: Will Lewis testifies in his own defense – FOX Carolina

Greenville, SC (FOX Carolina) - On Wednesday, suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis told his side of the story when he testified in his defense.

The state called their final witness Wednesday morning and the defense began laying out their case after the lunch break.

Day 3 of the trial followed a day that included emotional testimony from Lewis' former assistant Savanah Nabors.

Nabors spent four hours on the stand Tuesday. During her testimony, Nabors outlined the alleged extra-marital affair Lewis is accused of using taxpayer funds to to pay for. She also described how Lewis allegedly assaulted her in her hotel room on that trip.

Lewis has maintained that their relationship was completely consensual.

Prosecutors called former Greenville County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Drew Pinciaro to the stand.

Pinciaro testified that before Lewis took office, the role of Savanah Nabors was mostly filled by sheriff Loftis' secretary Jackie Cooper. Pinciaro said that previously in his role as PIO, he, Ryan Flood, and Cooper took care of scheduling meetings for the sheriff, writing speeches.

Pinciaro said that he would describe the relationship between Savanah Nabors and Sheriff Lewis as that of a big brother and little sister. He went on to say while most employees under Lewis referred to him as sheriff, Nabors always addressed him as Will.

According to Pinciaro, he never noticed anything unusual until the day he said Nabors failed to show up for a fallen Spartanburg officer's funeral. Previously it had been agreed that she, Lewis, Flood and himself would attend the funeral together, but was told by Lewis she had left to go to Florida.

According to Pinciaro Lewis, Flood, and himself all attended the church service, but when they arrived for the graveside service for the officer, Lewis stayed in the car on the phone with Nabors.

Pinciaro went on to say he was told by Sheriff Lewis that Nabors had quit or was going to quit and that he told he and Ryan Flood, "If I was you, I wouldnt talk to her.

Pinciaro was also questioned about Nabors involvement at a crime scene and asked why should would be there. According to Pinciaro, he never saw Nabors predecessor at a crime scene and didn't know why she would be there.

The state called a SLED forensic investigator Lt. David Britt Dove, who specializes in mobile devices, to the stand. After establishing the investigator as an expert witness in his field, he testified that he performed an extraction on Sheriff Lewis' phone.

According to the investigator, the extraction reveals text messages, call logs, apps, and locations of the phone's user.

The witness confirmed that the messages between Nabors and Lewis presented in this trial did in fact come from Lewis' phone. He also went on to explain why phone calls between Nabors and Lewis did not appear in the extraction.

The final witness to take the stand in the state's case was Major Ty Miller. Miller was at the time, and still is, the highest ranking female deputy in the sheriff's office and on the GCSO command team.

Miller testified about the relationship between Lewis and Nabors saying their relationship was very giggly and fun, going on to say Nabors addressed the sheriff by his first name and said they seemed very comfortable together.

When questioned about the perceived favoritism towards Nabors, Miller said it caused some contention in the office that she got a new car and new phone when there wasn't money in the budget for some deputies to get new vehicles.

Around April 22, Miller said she received a message from Nabors stating she needed to talk to her. Miller met with Nabors, who told her that she and the sheriff had kissed and played her a recording she had made of Lewis talking about a possible trip to Reno in which they would stay together.

According to Miller, she couldn't understand a reason that Nabors would need to go to a sheriff's school training trip funded by taxpayer dollars, stating that there was no reason for her to be there.

At a later date, Miller says Sheriff Lewis admitted to her and Marcus Davenport that he'd had a sexual encounter with Nabors and was going to have a press conference to address it.

After Miller left the stand, the state played the press conference and rested their case.

The defense took over shortly before noon.

Attorney Rauch Wise entered a number of motions that the judge said he would consider during the lunch break.

The judge also advised Lewis of his rights, his right to testify and the protections offered under the Fifth Amendment.

Willis told the judge he intended to testify.

After the lunch break, the judge said he felt both indictments against Lewis contained very similar charges.

Solicitor Kevin Brackett argued however that the indictments were for different charges that go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same crimes.

The court agreed to that for time being.

Savanah Nabors' former boyfriend from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office was the first witness called by the defense.

Chad Ayers answered questions about his relationship with Nabors, which he admitted was kept hidden from the sheriff's department.

Ayers answered several questions about text messages exchanged between Nabors and himself.

Martine Helou, a former Greenville County Sheriff's Office employee was next up for the defense.

Helou testified that she was hired to help with community outreach and to create new programs from the sheriff's office.

During the cross-examination, Helou said she had expressed interest in working for Lewis while the suspended sheriff was campaigning. She was hired the month after Lewis won the election.

Helou said the left the sheriff's office in May 2019 after her position at the sheriff's office was eliminated.

Two more witnesses testified for the defense, a paralegal and an attorney at the law firm where both Nabors and Lewis worked previously, before Lewis took the stand.

Lewis's testimony began by outlining his military and law enforcement experience before he ran for office.

Lewis said Nabors was hired before he took office in accordance with the county pay scale for an administrative coordinator. During cross-examination, the solicitor questioned the salary range Lewis gave, but Savanah's initial salary was in the upper end of the salary range the solicitor provided.

Lewis said Nabors was actually his third choice for the position after a male candidate and a longtime paralegal who he had worked with previously did not take the offers.

Lewis wanted someone who could keep him on track, read his e-mails, and document closed-door meetings on his behalf. He said he was looking for someone flexible who could be on-call at all hours, and someone put together who could handle his calendar and schedule.

Lewis said he identified major needs for new vehicles, equipment, and radios when he took office. He said the normal annual increase in the sheriff's office budget was not enough to cover it, so he reached out to Councilman Joe Kernell for advice.

Lewis testified that he recalled it was Kernell who suggested they schedule a meeting out of town since they could not initially get their schedules to jive.

This suggestion led to the budget meeting in Charlotte.

Lewis rebutted some of Nabors' claims when he testified about the weekend gathering.

He admitted to taking a bottle of liquor on the trip.

Its not uncommon for us to take a bottle of wine or a bottle of liquor with us when we go out of town," Lewis said.

Lewis said the bottle would not fit in his suitcase, so he placed it on top of Nabors' zipped bag.

He admitted that after the first night's activities, he returned to Nabors' hotel room for a nightcap.

He said they began talking and then kissed, which Lewis said surprised him.

The kiss led to them both taking off each other's clothes and intimacy, but said nothing was done without Nabors' consent.

Lewis also denies that Nabors was unconscious during the sexual encounter.

Afterwards, he said, "A million things went through my head. I knew that I had violated my oath to my wife. I was very bothered that I had cheated on my wife."

He then claims he went back to his room, alone, and that was the end of the sexual contact between them on the trip.

Lewis said he and Nabors

had no problems personally or at work when they returned from Charlotte. He said their sexual encounter was talked about briefly, but more in the context of shame for Lewis.

He admitted that he continued to pursue Nabors, and referenced a conversation between them that was recorded.

I pursued on audio and it was evidently clear that I was just dumb for pursuing a relationship with a woman who was not my wife.

Lewis said he never cussed Nabors out or threatened her but claims they had "boyfriend-girlfriend squabbles, like back in high school.

Through Wise's questioning, Lewis maintained that he never improperly spent any company money.

When wise asked if Lewis ever spent any inappropriate money on Nabors, he replied, "No."

Lewis said that once news of his affair broke, a councilmancalled for audit of the sheriff's office's finances. Lewis said that audit yielded no findings of misuse of money.

During the cross-examination Lewis stated, "I would not have hired Savanah if I knew we would've had an affair."

Lewis denies that he once told deputies he and Nabors never had sex.

"My attorney at the time told me not deny having sex but that I could deny the rape and sexual assault."

Lewis said he only denied those allegations when he spoke to his staff. He maintained in his testimony that he still denied those allegations.

He did admit to asking Nabors, "What happens in Charlotte stays in Charlotte, right," because he did not want his wife to learn about the affair.

Recordings were played in which Lewis told Nabors he was not manipulating her but could if he wanted to.

Im completely capable of manipulating you, but I choose not to," Lewis said in the recording.

He maintained he was not manipulating Nabors, but was instead trying to "convince her" to go to a conference in Reno, NV with him "to continue an adulterous relationship."

Shortly before 6 p.m. the judge announced that he would dismiss the jury for the day and the solicitor's cross-examination will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

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Day 3: Will Lewis testifies in his own defense - FOX Carolina