Alabama Department of Corrections Officer Charged with Violating the Civil Rights of Inmates by Using Excessive Force

Officer Also Charged with Obstructing the Investigation –

Screen Shot 2023 02 08 at 5.27.43 PM - Alabama Department of Corrections Officer Charged with Violating the Civil Rights of Inmates by Using Excessive Force

Former Alabama Department of Corrections Lt. Mohammad Shahid Jenkins has been indicted on four counts including use of excessive force and obstruction offenses: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment on Wednesday charging a former Alabama Department of Corrections officer with excessive use of force and two obstruction offenses.

Lieutenant Mohammad Shahid Jenkins used excessive force on two inmates – V.R. and D.H. – at the state’s Donaldson Correctional Facility. The indictment further charges Jenkins with two obstruction offenses for lying about his use of excessive force on one of the inmates, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Feb. 16, 2022, Jenkins willfully deprived inmate V.R. of his right to be free from excessive force by kicking him, hitting him, spraying him with chemical spray, striking him with a can of chemical spray and striking him with a shoe, according to count one in the indictment.

Count two alleges that, on Nov. 29, 2021, Jenkins willfully deprived inmate D.H. of his right to be free from excessive force by spraying him with chemical spray multiple times, striking him with a can of chemical spray and hitting him. Counts one and two further allege that inmates V.R. and D.H. each suffered bodily injury as a result of Jenkins’s actions, and that Jenkins used dangerous weapons — chemical spray and the chemical spray can — in both assaults.

Count three alleges that, following the Feb. 16, 2022, assault, Jenkins knowingly falsified an ADOC incident report about the event. Finally, count four alleges that, when ADOC and FBI agents later interviewed Jenkins about his use of force on V.R., Jenkins engaged in misleading conduct toward the agents.

If convicted, Jenkins faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each excessive force charge and 20 years in prison on each obstruction charge. He also faces up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case with the assistance of ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin for the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorneys Anna Gotfryd and David Reese of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

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