FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) – Testimony in the federal trial of a former Pee Dee sheriff continues Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors allege that Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon deprived an inmate of his civil rights in 2020 by ordering a deputy to stun him with a taser.

Lemon’s trial began Tuesday, and prosecutors immediately presented key evidence. The court viewed the entire 10 minutes of body camera footage from the May 3, 2020, incident. The video showed former Deputy Andrew Cook using a Taser to stun Jarrel Johnson, who was an inmate at the Marlboro County Detention Center.

Federal prosecutors argued that Lemon “unnecessarily” tasered Johnson four times more than he should have.

While the defense acknowledged that the Taser was used excessively on Johnson, it argued that officers were trying to compel the inmate to comply, not abuse their power.

The federal indictment against Lemon alleges that while he was serving as sheriff, he deprived Johnson of “due process of law, which includes the right to be protected from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers.”

Cook also testified on Tuesday and announced that he accepted a plea deal in his federal court indictment. Cook admitted that he drank beer at least twice while on the job and also lied to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents when he said he used his cellphone to record a clip of the video from his body camera.

Johnson’s father, who the court heard was the victim of his son’s alleged attack that landed him in prison before he was tasered, will testify at the trial.

Lemon, who appeared in court Tuesday at the start of his trial, is charged in federal court with deprivation of his civil rights.

He has pleaded not guilty in the case.

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