ATLANTA — Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the federal trial of Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill.
He’s accused of violating the civil rights of detainees by putting them in restraint chairs for hours.
Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was in the courtroom Wednesday as several officers who worked in the jail took the stand.
The officers were working in the jail when detainees were allegedly placed in the restraint chairs.
Glenn Howell was arrested in April 2020, booked on a misdemeanor charge.
The arrest came after Sheriff Victor Hill got involved in a payment dispute Howell had with a sheriff’s lieutenant.
When he turned himself in, Howell said the sheriff ordered him into the restraint chair.
He first described the ordeal in a 2020 interview with Channel 2′s investigative reporter Mark Winne.
“It was the worst thing in my life,” he told Winne at the time.
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By law, the restraint chair should only be used when officers are trying to protect detainees from harming themselves or others.
Officer Rashawn Johnson — who was working in the jail during Howell’s arrest — testified Wednesday that Howell never threatened anyone or showed any ill will.
Another officer offered similar testimony, saying Howell did not show aggressive or destructive behavior.
Johnson said Howell was placed in the chair for four hours, his hands cuffed behind his back and straps placed over his upper arms.
Howell described it as painful, saying he could barely move and was never allowed a bathroom break.
At one point, he said he thought he was having a heart attack.
Hill is accused of improperly using the restraint chairs for seven detainees.
Another detainee, Joseph Arnold, took the stand, saying the restraint was “very painful and humiliating.”
In cross examination, defense lawyers said Howell used profanity and other aggressive language toward the sheriff.
Hill has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Testimony in his defense will begin on Thursday.
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