Two South Carolina Police Officers Sentenced For Depriving Mentally Disabled Woman of Her Rights

Yesterday, federal Judge Bryan Harwell said that the bad actions of two officers ruined the good work of thousands of honest officers.

“This one incident can cause the public to lose respect and overshadow the good work, the hard work, done by thousands of officers every day,” Harwell said.

In October last year, Franklin Brown and Eric Walters pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.  The DOJ took the case from the state and the officers reached the plea deals through federal prosecutors.

It happened in April 2013 in Marion, South Carolina. Eric Walters was patrolling when he saw Melissa Davis walking out of the yard of a home for sale. He asked her what she was doing, thinking she might have broken into the home. He tased Melissa because she did not quickly respond. While on the ground, Walters ordered Melissa to put her hands behind her back, but he shocked her 4 more times with his taser before she could respond.

Franklin Brown responded to the scene, and saw Walters removing the taser probes from Melissa’s back. Walters had then determined that Melissa had not done anything wrong. However, Brown noticed that one of Melissa’s hands had slipped from her improperly applied handcuffs, and he used his taser on Melissa again. According to court documents, Melissa was not trying to fight or escape.

Prosecutors said that Brown shocked Melissa a total of three times, then offered to let her go if he could shoot her in the forehead with his Taser. Brown told the other officers at the scene he shot Melissa with his taser because he “did not want to touch that nasty bitch.” Brown’s statement is a part of his plea agreement.