Sheriff guilty in federal use-of-force case

2 Franklin County detainees injured in separate encounters, jury determines

FORT SMITH — Franklin County Sheriff Anthony Boen has been found guilty of two of three federal accusations of unreasonable force against detainees.

A jury on Monday convicted Boen, 51, of two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law stemming from two use-of-force incidents against detainees resulting in bodily injury in 2018. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and additional fines, according to Charlie Robbins, public information officer for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Judge Timothy L. Brooks expects Boen to be sentenced in roughly four months.

Boen, who has served as sheriff since 2011, was initially indicted on three charges on Dec. 17, 2019. The indictment from the Western District accused him of causing “bodily injury” to detainees in the three incidents in question.

The jury determined Boen on Nov. 21, 2018, ordered detainee Brandon English of Ozark to the detectives’ office, where he pushed English onto the floor and grabbed his hair or beard. It also determined Boen on Dec. 3, 2018, hit detainee Zachery Greene of Ozark “multiple times in the head” while Greene was shackled to a bench in the county jail.

The jury found Boen innocent of accusations he

punched detainee Justin Phillips of Panama, Okla., multiple times en route to the Franklin County jail on Sept. 14, 2017, while Phillips was shackled in the back of the patrol car and not resisting. Boen’s attorney Russell Wood revealed in cross-examination that Boen’s former chief deputy had conflicting accounts of the incident.

According to Brooks, the jury had to reach a unanimous guilty verdict on four criteria:

■ That Boen deprived the listed victims of the right of a pretrial detainee, free from unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer.

■ That Boen acted willfully to disregard the law.

■ That Boen acted under color of law. Both parties agreed this had been proven.

■ That Boen’s actions resulted in bodily injury.

Jurors unanimously agreed to the verdict on all three counts when polled by Brooks at the defense’s request.

Brooks on Monday ruled Boen will be in custody before sentencing because he was convicted of felony violent offenses that injured his victims. His determination was in line with the sentencing request of Brandon Carter, the attorney representing the U.S. government.

Brooks’ ruling didn’t align with the request of Boen’s attorney, who said he would like the opportunity to research and state his opinion on the custody decision.

The trial lasted five days before jury deliberation began Friday, continuing until after 2 p.m. Monday. The trial had been postponed four times since the indictment. A federal jury trial moratorium was in place from March 2020-May 17, 2021, because of covid-19.

Demonstrators stood outside the courthouse Monday morning with signs supporting Boen before the trial began. Boen’s family cried after the two guilty verdicts and when two U.S. marshals escorted him out of the courtroom.

Two family members declined to comment on the verdict after exiting the courthouse.

Greene’s mother, Lori Greene, who attended all six days of the trial, said it had been “a long three years” waiting for the verdict on behalf of her son. Zachery Greene is serving a prison sentence for first- and second-degree battery convictions, according to Arkansas Department of Correction records.

“What he did was wrong, but that did not give the sheriff the right to beat the living daylights out of him,” she said.

Kristen Clarke, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division assistant attorney general, in a Monday news release said Boen abused his power as the top law enforcement officer in Franklin County “by assaulting people in his custody.”

James Dawson, FBI Little Rock special agent in charge, pledged his office’s commitment to investigating civil-rights violations, noting actions such as Boen’s “gravely injure the public’s trust in law enforcement.”

David Clay Fowlkes, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, said in the release Boen’s actions violated both civil rights and the trust of Franklin County residents.

“Cases like this are very important to our office because they involve the most personal and basic of civil rights: the rights to be protected and unharmed while in the custody of law enforcement officers,” Fowlkes said. “Today’s guilty verdict shows that justice will prevail in cases where a person’s civil rights are violated. We will continue to vigorously pursue cases involving the violation of basic civil rights that should be afforded to everyone.”

Demonstrators stood outside the courthouse Monday morning with signs supporting Boen before the trial began. Boen’s family cried after the two guilty verdicts and when two U.S. Marshals escorted him out of the courtroom.