Benjamin Ashford|South Carolina sheriff who told deputy to shock inmate is found not guilty in civil rights case

FLORENCE,Benjamin Ashford S.C. (AP) — 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.

Outside the courtroom, Lemon said he had faith he would be found not guilty.

“Thank the good Lord, thank the good Lord, I’m probably going to go to sleep thanking the good Lord,” Lemon said.

Lemon was suspended after his December 2021 arrest. He no longer faces any charges and can be reinstated. The Democrat’s term ends at the end of 2024 and he is not running for reelection.

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 was not trained to use a Taser and shouldn’t have directed the deputy to use it, authorities said.

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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.

Lemon said he never intended to violate the inmate’s civil rights. He said he had been called to help get the inmate into 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 was not excessive when dealing with someone who will not follow orders.

Ray Nash, a former sheriff in Dorchester County, testified that the inmate’s violence against his father likely led Lemon to think the Taser was the only option to subdue him.

The deputy who shocked the inmate on Lemon’s order pleaded guilty to a federal charge earlier this year and testified against the sheriff. He will be sentenced at a later date.