2 deputies and nurse acquitted of manslaughter in death of inmate strapped to chair and shocked
Two former Georgia sheriff’s deputies and a nurse were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter but convicted of lesser charges last week in the death of a man strapped to a restraint chair and shocked with a stun gun multiple times.
Ex-Cpl. Jason Kenny was found guilty of cruelty to an inmate Friday by a Chatham County jury and ex-Cpl. Maxine Evans was found guilty of public records fraud and lying to a grand jury, the Associated Press reports in a story published by the Daily Report (sub. req.).
Nurse Gregory Brown was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter Wednesday by a judge after an investigator said he gave inaccurate information about Brown to a grand jury in the case. Brown was found guilty of making false statements.
Mathew Ajibade, 22, died hours after being arrested on a domestic violence charge in January. His family said he had bipolar disorder and may have been in the midst of a manic episode at the time.
Jail personnel said Ajibade fought as he was booked and was shocked twice with a stun gun before he knocked a deputy who had used to the floor, grabbed the electronic device and used it on another deputy.
Kenny testified that Ajibade remained combative as he was strapped into a chair restraining his hands and feet, but the prosecution said video from a camera built into the stun guncontradicted this claim.
“He is slumping in the chair, there is no fight in him and Mr. Kenny uses the Taser anyway—not once, not twice, not three times, but four,” said prosecutor Christy Barker at closing. “And how does Mathew respond? He’s screaming, ‘I’m going to die!’”
Evans violated jail policy by not having someone check on the inmate every 15 minutes while he remained in the chair, the government said. Ajibade was found dead after being left alone for 90 minutes.
A lawyer for Kenny said he would accept the verdict, the AP reports, but a lawyer for Evans said he was disappointed and called the case a “vindictive prosecution.”
A cousin of the victim told NBC News his family was not surprised by the acquittals.
“I knew that that same system that failed Mathew would not be the system that got him justice,” Chris Oladapo said. “I had already warned my family not to expect anything.
“We expected nothing, and we got nothing.”
