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Title
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White Deputy Charged in Negro Beating
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Source Type
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Newspapers
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Author
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Jack Nelson
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Publisher
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Los Angeles Times
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Publication Place
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Los Angeles, CA
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Publication Date
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01/18/1967
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Transcript
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White Deputy Charged in Negro Beating BY JACK NELSON Times Staff Writer ATLANTA The Justice Department Tuesday charged white deputy sheriff with violating the civil rights of James Earl Motley, a Negro who was pronounced dead in his jail cell at Wetumpka, Ala., last Nov. 20 a few hours after being arrested. The charge against Deputy Harvey Conner, who witnesses assert clubbed Motley while two state troopers held his arms. came day after an El- more County grand jury refused to indict Conner. U.S. Atty. Ben Hardeman of Montgomery filed a criminal information against Conner accusing him of violating an 1879 statute which prohibits a law enforcement officer from using his position to deny a person his legal rights. Misdemeanor Count The charge, carrying a maximum punishment of one year imprisonment and $1,000 fine. is mis- demeanor. The summons ordered Conner to appear March 1 in U.S. District Court at Montgomery for arraignment. Trial probably will be set for the week beginning April 10. The information, which followed an FBI investigation ordered by Asst. Atty. Gen. John Doar, the Justice Department's civil rights chief, accused Conner of beating and injuring Motley, 27, "with the intent of imposing summary punishment upon him" and thereby denying him his legal rights Conner 57. remained on duty as deputy sheriff at least until Monday, when Sidney Thrash succeeded Lester Holley as sheriff. Thrash reportedly has not reappointed Conner. But Thrash refused to discuss the case or the status of Conner. who has been a sheriff's deputy since 1954. Alleged Clubbing Elmore County authorities began an investigation of the Motley case after newspapers reported that several witnesses asserted they saw Motley clubbed in the head by Conner while being arrested for drunkenness. Reporters talked to the witnesses long before investigating authorities got around to seeing them. The Elmore County jail has a horrendous reputation among Negroes. On July 12. 1966. Negro died in jail cell there, reportedly of "natural causes. the day after being taken by police from his common-law wife's home over her protests. Another died there Dec. 10, 1960, a day after being critically injured in car accident. Apparently neither Negro had been charged with any law violation. General Inquiry The deaths and prisoner talk of harsh treatment in "the hole, solitary confinement cell, prompted Montgomery newspapers to call for general investigation. and Circuit Judge Joseph J. Mullins instructed the Elmore Grand Jury it had the right to investigate the jail. The all-white jury, which included five women, heard about 20 witnesses in the Motley case and inspected the jail. The jury's only finding on the jail was that it is properly ventilated and "strong and securely built to prevent escapement of prisoners when confined therein The county coroner, Dr. Joseph R. Benson, Wetumpka physician, was a key witness in the grand jury investigation. Earlier. after conducting a closed-door inquiry himself, Dr. Benson filed a death certificate attributing Motley's death to a "brain injury' resulting from accidental causes. Dr. Benson told news- men that Conner and the two state troopers involved in the arrest did not deny Motley was beat- en, but that they also said he fell while entering the jail and fell again from his jail cell bunk. Dr. Benson said that in his opinion, the falls, rather than the clubbing, caused Motley's death.
