Dove, 37, was accused of assaulting a jail inmate in November 2011.
Dove was initially suspended without pay, but Sheriff C.T. Woody fired Dove after the results of an internal investigation.
Dove admitted to CBS 6 that he did, in fact, move 22-year-old Marquan Pollard out of his cell without an order.
According to Sheriff Woody, that’s against jail policy.
Dove said he did it after Pollard had been threatening him before the two got into a brief fight, and Dove said he was only defending himself.
Major Jerry Baldwin released a statement on behalf of Sheriff Woody.
“Sheriff Woody welcomes the investigation, and we will fully cooperate. All other questions should be referred to the US Attorney’s Office.”
Our calls to the US Attorney’s office have not been returned. But CBS 6’s Legal Analyst Todd Stone weighed in on the case.
We asked him why would the Feds take over this case?
“The federal government has the authority under the Civil Rights Act to prosecute cases where they believe that someone’s constitutional rights are being violated by someone who is acting under state authority,” said Stone.
“This is just a difference in terms of who is investigating the case and the nature of the potential charge. The defendant remains innocent until proven guilty no matter if it’s brought in the state system or the federal system. They are more likely to step in when they think there may be a more systemic problem.”
