ALABAMA
A police chief who was convicted for his role in the brutal beating of a burglary suspect last year is facing up to 20 years in prison, according to officials.
A federal jury on Thursday convicted the Chief of Police of Stevenson, Alabama, Daniel Winters, 56, of two counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law: one count for beating an arrestee, identified as D.F., and one count for failing to protect the victim from harm.
Winters is facing up to 20 years in prison for the civil rights charges. He is expected to be sentenced in October.
“This police chief abused his authority, broke the law and violated the public trust,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When law enforcement leaders engage in egregious, unlawful conduct – as this defendant did here – they do a disservice to the thousands of hard-working officers who perform their difficult, demanding jobs each day with integrity and distinction.”
According to the evidence, on March 22, 2015, Winters and a civilian friend Bobby Hicks went to a residence to investigate suspicions that property had been stolen from the friend’s business Hicks’ funeral home on March 22, 2015, according to authorities.
Upon arrival, Winters and his friend entered the residence without a search warrant and encountered the victim who was identified only as D.F. Winters and his friend then began to beat D.F., according to officials.
The beating moved outside where Winters and his friend continued to strike and kick the victim in front of the residence. Over the course of about five minutes, Winters not only participated in the beating, but stood by watching his friend beat D.F. and did nothing to stop it.
A passing motorist called 911 to report the beating. D.F. was left bloody with wounds to his face, chest and back and was taken to the jail at the Stevenson Police Department.
While at the jail, D.F. began to spit up blood. A jailor requested Winters’ permission to call an ambulance, but Winters refused the request. Eventually, the jailor received permission from another supervisor and D.F. was transported to a hospital where he received medical attention.
“Civil rights enforcement is a priority of our office and the trial team on this case did an excellent job of putting the evidence together and presenting it to the jury,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama.
The FBI and Alabama’s State Bureau of Investigation investigated this case.