By Olivia Lloyd
The Charlotte Observer
ATLANTA — A detention officer accused of choking a handcuffed woman until she passed out at a Georgia jail is now going to prison.
Monique Clark, 32, has been sentenced to four years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in an Aug. 7 news release.
The 48-month sentence exceeds the 33-month sentence jointly recommended by both government prosecutors and Clark’s attorneys, defense attorney Devin Rafus told McClatchy News.
In an unusually long three-day sentence hearing, the judge pushed for higher sentencing guidelines, arguing that the woman had sustained “serious” bodily injury, Rafus said.
Because Clark pleaded guilty, he can’t appeal the sentence. Rafus said Clark expressed remorse in multiple statements, saying he made a bad decision.
On June 5, 2023, a woman was arrested and brought to the North Fulton County Jail outside Atlanta, where Clark was working an overtime shift, according to an indictment and sentencing memorandum.
The arrestee needed to take a photo before undergoing a full-body X-ray, but she was intoxicated and wouldn’t stand still for the camera, officials said.
Typically in that case, officers would take the detainee to a cell to sober up and try the scanning process later, according to federal officials. But Clark tried to force the woman, who was handcuffed, to stand for the camera, officials said.
When she again refused, Clark is accused of choking her without justification.
“Hey, I choke folks, so I advise you to cooperate,” he said, according to prosecutors. “Hold your face before you lose your breath. The choice is yours.”
He didn’t let go, and she passed out, officials said.
One of the police officers called an ambulance and a supervisor, and Clark was arrested the next day.
He was indicted in September on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and pleaded guilty in March.
“This defendant’s violent assault on a handcuffed arrestee rendered her unconscious and is simply inexcusable,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in the release. “As we have seen too many times, chokeholds and neck restraints can prove deadly.”
Rafus said the arrestee has filed a civil lawsuit but didn’t provide her medical records for the criminal case to show the severity of her injuries and help prove serious bodily injury.
“This is one case I’ll remember forever,” Rafus said.
Fulton County includes the Atlanta metropolitan area.
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