MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – A former Montgomery police officer has been convicted of using his position to violate a woman’s constitutional right to bodily integrity while responding to a shoplifting call.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan announced that a federal jury has found 32-year-old Markelle Jaquan Cox guilty on four counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and three counts of obstruction of justice.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on October 20, 2023, Cox, then a Montgomery Police Department officer, responded to a shoplifting report at a department store on Eastern Boulevard. During the investigation, he handcuffed the victim and escorted her to his patrol vehicle. While she was restrained, Cox engaged in unlawful and abusive sexual contact, including touching intimate areas of her body, with some of the touching occurring under her clothing. Cox later removed the handcuffs and forced the victim to touch him, Govan said…