Ex-Sheriff Faces Charge In Death of Negro Prisoner

Title

Source Type

Newspapers

Publisher

The Bridgeport Post

Publication Place

Bridgeport, CT

Publication Date

01/18/1967

Transcript

Ex-Sheriff Faces Charge In Death of Negro Prisoner. Montgomery, Ala. (AP)- The Justice Department has filed a misdemeanor charge against a former Elmore County deputy sheriff, claiming he assaulted a Negro found dead in a cell at the county jail last Nov. 20. The federal charge against Harvey King Conner was filed in U.S. District Court Tuesday and Conner was summoned to appear for arraignment March 1. He is charged under a section of the U.S. code providing a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of $1000 or both, court officials said. The justice department contended in its charge that Conner, while acting as a duly appointed deputy, "did willfully assault, strike, beat, and injure James Earl Motley with the intent and purpose of imposing summary punishment on him and did thereby deprive James Earl Motley of rights secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Motley was arrested by Conner early Nov. 20 on charges of highway drunkenness and resisting arrest. The 37-year-old Montgomery construction worker was taken to the county jail at Wetumpka, where his body was found of the floor of a cell later that day. An Elmore County grand jury returned a no-bill Monday after investigating the case for two days last week. Coroner Joseph Benson ruled earlier that Motley's death was accidental, listing the chief cause of death as "brain injury." He said head injuries consistent with those which would have been inflicted by a fall and Motley had fallen twice.

Sources for

See all items with this value James Earl Motley