An Alabama officer will spend his next two years behind bars after a judge convicted him of assault among other charges for hitting and threatening a Black man while he was off-duty.
Max Ryan Dotson, a lieutenant for Sheffield County Police Department, was charged in March and later found guilty of third-degree assault, reckless endangerment and menacing during his bench trial.
Lauderdale County District Court Judge Carole C. Medley sentenced Dotson on Friday to 12 months for the third-degree assault charge, 12 months for the reckless endangerment charge and six months for menacing, according to WAFF. He was found not guilty of harassment.
In December 2022, Dotson approached Demarcus Key and alleged he had said something to his daughter. Key kept insisting that he said nothing to Dotson’s daughter and did not even know her. The two get into a verbal altercation that quickly turned physical. Then Dotson stepped back and pulled his gun, according to court documents.
Key was struck multiple times in the face and left with a bloody nose and mouth. The off-duty cop also threatened him with a gun, according to civil rights attorney Harry Daniels.
Dotson was arrested on March 28 and booked into the Lauderdale County Detention Center but released the same day on a $1,500 bond. He was also placed on administrative leave following his arrest. The cop reportedly will serve his sentence at the same jail.
“I was pretty pleased with the verdict,” said Dotson to AL.com in a phone interview.
The Alabama cop is one of the 10 officers being sued by Marvin Long, an unarmed Black man who was bit by police dogs after being followed back to his front door by police. Bodycam footage shows the officers involved, including Dotson, siccing the dog on Long.
Daniels released the following statement in part:
“Yes, we’re pleased that Lt. Dotson has been convicted. But he isn’t the bad apple. This is a bad tree. Between the Sheffield Police Department and Colbert County Sheriff’s Office, this is a bad orchard, and it’s time we did something about it.”
Sheffield County police Chief Ricky Terry filed paperwork to terminate Dotson from the department as well.
