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Attorney Must Pay For Touching Ex-Deputy

ATLANTA,None — A former deputy seeking justice in a civil case ran into some legal trouble of her own as she headed to court.

Deputies told Channel 2's Tom Jones that Alisa Zimmerman had a gun in her purse as she entered the courthouse for a civil lawsuit she filed against a criminal defense attorney.

Attorney Must Pay For Touching Ex-Deputy

Zimmerman didn't want to talk about the gun charge she now faces, but she did want to talk about her victory in the civil suit against attorney Michael Bierman.

A Cobb County jury decided in her favor and ruled Bierman must pay her $93,000 in punitive damages and for pain and suffering.

"They just saw the truth and the truth got to come out," Zimmerman told Jones.

Zimmerman claimed as she transported an inmate into a holding cell in a Cherokee County courtroom Bierman touched her inappropriately on her buttocks.

"And I was down here and it was on this side and I felt fingers.It was a grab," she showed Jones.

When she tried to ignore his advances Zimmerman said he used his foot to touch her behind again.

When reached by phone, Bierman said he never touched Zimmerman inappropriately.

"Had she asked me to grab her I wouldn't have. I didn't even know her first name. If she asked me to touch her I would have politely declined," he said.

Zimmerman filed a lawsuit in Cobb County where her attorney said Bierman lives.

After listening to testimony the jury quickly decided the former deputy was telling the truth and awarded her damages.

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Attorney Charles McAleer said the jury thought Bierman lied on the stand when he said he never touched any female inappropriately.

"Two witnesses came in and testified that he had done this in the past and they had seen him doing it in the past," McAleer said.

When asked about the gun charge, all Zimmerman would say is, "it was an accident."

Zimmerman said if Bierman had apologized she wouldn't have pursued the lawsuit.

"All he had to do was say is hey, I did it. It was inappropriate. Not ever going to do it again," Zimmerman explained.

Bierman said the case was about money. He plans to appeal. He faced two counts of sexual battery on the criminal side of the case. He pleaded guilty to simple battery and received probation. He says he accepted the plea to preserve his law license.