In a significant development, a federal judge has officially dismissed all charges against two deputies from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. This decision, reported by NewsChannel 5, pertains to Deputies Zach Ferguson and Eric Caperton, who were facing allegations related to civil rights violations and obstruction of justice. These charges arose from a drug-related traffic stop that took place in 2020, near the border of Lawrence and Giles Counties.
The legal proceedings surrounding this case have been notably protracted, with the trial being postponed on five separate occasions. Ultimately, federal prosecutors submitted a request to Judge Eli Richardson, seeking the dismissal of the case, which the judge granted last week. Central to the case was the arrest of 61-year-old Mike Jones, who sustained injuries during the incident and required hospitalization afterward.
Court documents reveal that following the arrest, the deputies took photographs of Jones and subsequently shared these images with a deputy district attorney. This prosecutor later advised them to delete the photos, a recommendation that raised questions about the handling of the case. Notably, that prosecutor has since been removed from the district attorney’s office. Following the events of the traffic stop, all charges against Jones were ultimately dropped.
Since the filing of the federal charges, both Ferguson and Caperton have been placed on administrative leave. It is important to note that the recent court ruling pertains solely to the federal charges and does not preclude the possibility of state-level charges being pursued. District Attorney Brent Cooper, representing the 22nd Judicial District, has indicated that his office has yet to receive any clarification regarding the reasons behind the dismissal of the federal charges.
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