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Two Ex-Cops Plead Guilty to Excessive Force
Two former police officers with the City of Marion Police Department in South Carolina pleaded guilty to using excessive force against a woman with mental disabilities.
Eric Walters, 39, and Franklin Brown, 35, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for using unreasonable force against the victim on April 2, 2013.
According to court documents, Walters tased the victim, causing her to fall to the ground and injure her head. He continued to tase her multiple times after she was on the ground. Brown then arrived on the scene and tased the victim as she was seated on the curb, restrained in handcuffs, and surrounded by law enforcement.
Walters and Brown admitted in court that there was no legitimate law enforcement purpose for repeatedly tasing the victim, as she did not pose a threat to the officers.
“The defendants abused their authority as law enforcement officers by repeatedly tasing a defenseless, compliant victim,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with the state’s police powers to maintain and restore order,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles for the District of South Carolina. “In this case, the officers abused that authority, and purposefully hurt the victim who at the time posed no threat to these officers or anyone else.”
Walters and Brown face statutory maximum penalties of 10-year sentences in prison and $250,000 fines. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. The case was investigated by the Columbia Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Potterfield of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorneys Nicholas Murphy and Henry Leventis of the Civil Rights Division.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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