FLORENCE, SC — A jury has acquitted a South Carolina sheriff of violating an inmate’s civil rights when he ordered a deputy to shock the man multiple times with a taser.
The federal jury deliberated for about an hour Monday before acquitting Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon, media reported.
Outside the courtroom, Lemon said he was confident he would be found innocent.
“Thank God, thank God, I’ll probably go to sleep thanking God,” Lemon said.
Lemon was suspended after his December 2021 arrest. He no longer faces charges and could be reinstated. The Democrat’s term expires at the end of 2024 and he will not seek re-election.
In May 2020, Lemon ordered Deputy Sheriff David Andrew Cook to use his Taser when it struck the inmate directly and again after firing the spikes into the victim, shocking him six times after the man refused to enter his cell — twice as many shocks as officers are trained to use, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Lemon was not trained in using a Taser and should not have ordered the officer to use the Taser.
Lemon testified in his own defense that he had known the inmate’s family for decades. The inmate, who suffered from mental health issues, was arrested after he attacked his father with a baseball bat and threw his fists and Bible in the trash as he prepared to go to church, according to testimony.
Lemon said he never intended to violate the inmate’s civil rights. He said he was called upon to get the inmate in his cell because of his relationship with the inmate’s family.
The defense called an expert witness on force, who testified that six shocks with a Taser is not excessive on someone who is not following commands.
Ray Nash, a former Dorchester County sheriff, testified that the inmate’s violence against his father likely made Lemon think the Taser was the only option to subdue him.
The officer who shocked the inmate on Lemon’s orders pleaded guilty to federal charges earlier this year and testified against the sheriff. He will be sentenced at a later date.