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Victor Hill: Ex-sheriff for Clayton County claims trial judge abused their power

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team and Brittany Edney
Updated  April 16, 2024 5:56pm EDT
Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

'Unheard of': Victor Hill juror questioned twice

Former Clayton County sheriff Victor Hill's attorney argues the presiding judge over his client's case abused their power and denied Hill a fair trial. One example cited was the moment a juror was questioned on their own for the second time, right before the guilty verdict was reached.

ATLANTA - A hearing for former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was held Tuesday morning in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

During the hearing, Hill's attorney argued that the presiding judge had abused their power and denied Hill a fair trial. The main point of contention, agreed upon by attorneys for both sides, revolved around multiple complaints made about one juror in Hill's trial.

It appears that this particular juror held views differing from the majority of the jurors and faced criticism from them. The presiding judge then brought this juror out and questioned them individually, on two separate occasions, during jury deliberations.

One of the appeals court judges expressed confusion regarding why Juror Number 6 was publicly questioned a second time. Drew Findling, an attorney for Victor Hill, spoke exclusively with FOX 5 afterward, stating that this situation is unheard of.

"What was unprecedented and what the court brought to the government’s attention is, setting aside that one time, can you tell us in the history of this country, where what took place in Sheriff Hill’s case, has happened a second time? The government acknowledged that they could not and the court acknowledged that they could not either," said Findling.

Former sheriff Victor Hill appealing conviction

Former Clayton County sheriff Victor Hill is appealing his conviction. In court on Tuesday, his attorney argued that the presiding judge abused his power and denied Hill a fair trial.

Hill is now waiting to hear the court's decision. 

Conviction of Victor Hill

In October 2022, a federal jury in Atlanta convicted Hill, who was sheriff of Clayton County for 15 years, on six of seven counts of violating the constitutional rights of detainees inside the Clayton County Jail from December 2019 to May 2020. This was due to his ordering them held in restraint chairs for hours shortly after their arrests as a form of punishment.

Request to remain free

Hill's lawyers filed a motion to appeal his conviction in October and he requested that he be allowed to remain free until his appeal could be heard. However, his request was denied. 

Hill commenced an 18-month sentence on May 15, 2023, and was slated to remain behind bars at the Forrest City Federal Correctional Institution in Arkansas until November 2024. However, he was released from the low-security prison after serving less than a year and transferred to "community confinement," which entails either house arrest or residing in a halfway house until his projected release date of April 26.

Following his full release in April, the former sheriff will be on six years of supervised probation and must also complete 100 hours of community service.

Previous trouble for Victor Hill 

Hill had been a magnet for controversy from the onset of his tenure as Clayton County sheriff in 2005. On his first day, he fired 27 deputies, though a judge later reinstated them. Utilizing Batman imagery in campaign ads and on social media, he dubbed himself "The Crime Fighter," occasionally deploying a tank owned by his office during raids.

After failing to secure reelection in 2008 following his first term, Hill found himself under indictment—accused of leveraging his office for personal gain. However, voters returned him to office in 2012. He stood trial in the corruption case, with jurors acquitting him on all 27 charges.

In 2016, he pleaded no contest to a reckless conduct charge after shooting and injuring a woman in a model home in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta. Both he and the woman stated the 2015 shooting was an accident that occurred during police tactics practice.

Criticism of current sheriff

Two weeks ago, Hill accused the current sheriff of Clayton County, Levon Allen, of mismanagement. 

In a message posted on social media, Hill talked about the sheriff's office being $14 million over budged and claimed that Allen used $2 million to buy electric vehicles and spent $10,000 on personal clothing. He also accused Allen of allowing his friends and 10 family members on the sheriff's office payroll to claim unlimited overtime.

Additionally, he claimed that secretaries and clerks have been issued police vehicles instead of assigning them to deputies who need them and on-duty personnel have been used to help family and friends to move furniture. 

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Hill alleges that the "mismanagement" of the sheriff's office has led to three inmates being murdered at the Clayton County Jail while others are frequently stabbed or assaulted, including an officer who was stabbed in the head by an inmate.