The federal trial of suspended Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon started this week in Florence.

Lemon and former MCSO deputy were indicted in 2021 in state court on assault and misconduct charges after a Taser incident on a suspect. The indictments were handed down following a May, 2020 incident where Lemon ordered Cook to deploy his taser on Jarrel Lee Johnson at the Marlboro County Detention Center and unlawfully continued to activate the taser at least two times after the initial taser deployment to subdue the suspect while inside the jail. The indictments alleged that the assault was likely to produce great bodily injury or death. One of the indictments against Cook stated that he deployed his taser into Johnson’s chest and leg.

The state charge of misconduct in office against Lemon was dismissed in March after the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the former sheriff at a higher level.

Cook and Lemon still face state charges of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

Prior to his arrest and suspension, Lemon was a popular figure in the community. During the last campaign he ran, Lemon won by nearly 60 % over challenger Henry Love.

Initially, Lemon and Cook had opted for jury trials, but Cook took a guilty plea in February and could face a maximum of 10 years in prison. According to reporting from WPDE.com, Cook, who is awaiting sentencing, testified at Lemon’s trial. The station stated Cook said no one promised him anything for his testimony, but he hopes to have some “favor” from the judge when he’s sentenced.

WMBF News reported that “Cook admitted that he drank beer at least twice while on the job and also lied to agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division about recording a clip of the video from his body camera with his cellphone.”

Lemon had been Marlboro County’s sheriff for 4 years and employed with the sheriff’s office as the chief deputy for 12 years.

Lemon’s trial had been delayed three times before it started this week.

In a report from The Daily Beast, Lemon became another South Carolina sheriff to face serious charges while in office.

“Prosecutors have accused these elected officials with a slew of crimes, ranging from sexual harassment to accepting bribes to getting inmates to do personal work—all while donning the badge labeling them as one of the pillars in their community. Seth W. Stoughton, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina who testified in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, told The Daily Beast earlier this year that while “sheriffs are a little weird in most states, South Carolina seems to have a high level of sheriff problems. To some extent, because they are popularly elected, sheriffs reflect the norms and values of their electorate. In progressive cities, you’re going to find progressive sheriffs. Not always but typically. Conservative cities, therefore, have more conservative sheriffs. Like in South Carolina,” he added.

Over the last decade, several S.C. sheriffs faced charges for different crimes. Florence County Sheriff Kenny Boone pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge in 2020, Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt resigned following a DUI arrest in 2015, Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis faced one year in prison in 2019 after a jury convicted him of misconduct by a public officer and in 2021, Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood was convicted of corruption charges.

The role of the sheriff in South Carolina is powerful. According to scencyclopedia.org, “South Carolina’s sheriffs function as a county’s chief law enforcement officer. Sheriffs or their deputies are the primary first responders with law enforcement services for the unincorporated portions of all but one South Carolina County; Horry County has a sheriff and a separate county police department. The sheriff’s role is crucial in maintaining law and order in the counties. They also provide various support services for the state courts. The South Carolina Constitution provides for a sheriff’s election. The successful candidate serves a four-year term and may stand for subsequent terms. The State Constitution empowers the General Assembly to determine the need for additional officers to enforce the state’s criminal laws, including constables, who are appointed by the governor.”

Following Lemon’s indictment, Larry McNeil was appointed interim sheriff by Governor Henry McMaster. McNeil won the June primary and will face republican Charles English in the general election in November.