Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Federal Court says Charges against Officer will be Upheld

Federal Appeals court has upheld the conviction and sentence of an Atlanta, Alabama police officer for lying about a prisoner who was injured during an arrest.

A federal judge sentenced Officer Jason Hardy Hunt, who was a narcotics detective for Prichard, Alabama, to five months in prison and just five months of home detention.

The suspect James Woodard became agitated and argued with officers back on March 22, 2005 when he was being detained, and searched. Officers tried to arrest him after he cursed and threatened them. Officer Hunt threw Woodard to the pavement, injuring his head.

Hunt reported that Woodard grabbed him first, and repeated the falsehood to an FBI agent almost a year later.

On appeal, Officer Hunt said the evidence was insufficient to convict him of deliberate falsehood and that the short 10-month sentence was excessive. (Poor little baby...go cry now.) A three-judge panel of the 11the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in an opinion filed Monday.

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