Desmond Marrow, a former NFL player who was choked by a Henry County cop during a 2017 arrest, has achieved a landmark settlement with the county.
During a road rage incident in 2018, Marrow, who was temporarily with the Houston Texans but never participated in a game, was choked by a Henry County police while in custody. The officer, David Rose, was cleared within days, but the department reversed course and fired him after cellphone footage became available.
Rose pleaded guilty to simple violence in September 2020, after Marrow launched his legal complaint days after Rose was fired. As a result, he will be unable to work as a police officer in the future.
The settlement amount was not publicized, however, Marrow’s attorneys said in a statement the settlement “marks a record amount for a non-death, officer-involved use of force case in Henry County.”
“We are pleased that Henry County has decided to resolve the case brought by Desmond Marrow and for a record amount for a non-death case. Most significantly, the officer who choked Mr. Marrow pleaded guilty to battery, surrendered his law enforcement certification and will never work in law enforcement again — two rare conclusions in use-of-force cases,” attorneys Chris Stewart, Dianna Lee and Andrea Boyd said according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
According to Marrow’s lawyers, the altercation began when two males in a Target parking lot yelled at him racial obscenities and hurled hot coffee into his vehicle. Marrow was allegedly carrying a weapon, according to a witness who phoned the cops. Marrow complied with the officer’s orders once the authorities arrived on the scene.
Video shows Henry County cops knocking Marrow to the ground while bound, in a sequence that seems remarkably similar to the killing of George Floyd. In addition, one of the cops snatched Marrow’s throat and choked him, claiming he couldn’t breathe. The former Texan was originally accused of making terroristic threats as well as reckless and aggressive driving, but the charges were later dismissed.
