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Background: News coverage of video of Anthony Mitchell in custody (WBRC). Inset (left): Carl Carpenter (Walker County Sheriff’s Department). Inset (right): Anthony “Tony” Mitchell (Justice for Anthony Mitchell/Facebook).
An Alabama sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty to restraining a vulnerable inmate more than two years after that inmate died as a result of his treatment during his time in custody.
Carl Lofton Carpenter, 55, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday in which he admitted to mistreating Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, 33, who died of hypothermia and sepsis two weeks after he was arrested by Walker County police. Local news website Al.com reported that his death was ruled a homicide by the county coroner, who stated that the causes of his death were a result of “infected injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect.” In his plea, Carpenter admitted to “us[ing] his shod foot to stomp on the genitals” of Mitchell “to punish and inflict pain without a legitimate law enforcement reason to do so.”
Carpenter was one of several law enforcement personnel who took part in the mistreatment of Mitchell, who was originally arrested during a mental welfare check on Jan. 12, 2023. Mitchell was accused by authorities of firing a gun while officers were on the property. Despite being told by medical personnel that Mitchell was exhibiting symptoms of severe mental illness, including “expressing delusions related to demons and portals” to hell, according to the plea, the Walker County Sheriff made the call to transport him to the county jail.
According to the plea agreement, Mitchell was “compliant, obeyed commands, and posed no threat of harm to the officers, himself, or anyone else.” The agreement stated that at one point during the arrest, Mitchell “stiffened momentarily,” which caused Carpenter to act out in “anger.” The document said that Carpenter threw Mitchell to the ground, where he landed on his back, his hands cuffed behind him. Carpenter then “raised his foot and brought it down with force … stomping on [Mitchell’s] genitals.” He then said, “This is how we treat seizures in Walker County.”
After his first assault, Carpenter then threw Mitchell into the back of the squad car. While Mitchell’s legs dangled outside the car, Carpenter kicked them while Mitchell “lay immobile.” According to the plea, Carpenter chose to inflict unnecessary pain on Mitchell because he was “accustomed to harming arrestees unnecessarily consistent with the ‘culture’ of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office.”
Following the assaults on Mitchell, Carpenter and another unnamed officer both agreed to “tell federal investigators the same false version of events,” which was that Mitchell was “passively resisting officers” and that Carpenter merely held Mitchell to the ground using his foot.
Mitchell’s treatment once he arrived at Walker County Jail also made headlines and resulted in several law enforcement employees taking pleas of their own. Mitchell died on Jan. 26, 2023.
Carpenter faces a sentence of a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
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