A jury has found a sheriff in South Carolina not guilty of violating a jail inmate’s civil rights when he ordered a deputy to shock the man several times with a Taser.
The federal jury deliberated for about an hour Monday before clearing Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon, media outlets reported.
In May 2020, Lemon ordered Deputy David Andrew Cook to use his Taser when it was directly touching the inmate and again after shooting the prongs into the victim, shocking him six times, because the man was refusing to go in his cell. This was twice as many jolts as officers are trained to use, prosecutors said.
Lemon testified in his own defense that he had known the inmate’s family for decades. The inmate, who suffered from mental health problems, was arrested after attacking his father with a baseball bat and his fists and throwing his Bible in the trash as he prepared to go to church, according to testimony.
Ah, so it’s okay to harm people that you’ve known for decades, got it. I guess that there are parents who are like that with their children.
I wonder if he starts to get nervous, if his family members suddenly gets a lot more friends.