An officer pleads guilty in a choking incident, and an ex-NFL prospect struggles to put his life back together

A former Georgia police officer who choked a onetime NFL prospect during a 2017 arrest will never work in law enforcement again after pleading guilty to battery — two rare conclusions in use-of-force cases — but Desmond Marrow’s life remains a wreck.

The 32-year-old understands last week’s plea deal is something to celebrate. He’s seen plenty of cases like his and knows that, especially when the officer is White and the victim’s Black, police can be exonerated or receive mild reproofs.

Though ex-Henry County officer David Rose will pay for choking Marrow — not only with his badge, but to a lesser degree, his freedom — Marrow says he lost his wife and career and was homeless for a spell as he struggled in the aftermath of his arrest.

Today, he doesn’t own a car because he fears traffic stops. When he sees police, he said, his anxiety surges. He sometimes has panic attacks, but his response is unpredictable. He’s urinated on himself at the sight of law enforcement, he said.

“My son is 7, and he doesn’t pee on himself,” Marrow told CNN. “It’s embarrassing.”

Whereas he once was lauded for his football prowess, he is now recognized for his arrest. A stranger recently asked for his autograph, blurting, “You’re the dude from the video!” Marrow said. It doesn’t help that too often when he sees the news, police have hurt or killed another African American, he said.

“It’s a stain for the rest of my life,” he said. “I try to keep a strong image, but just because I carry it well, that doesn’t mean it’s not heavy.”

Reliving the experience through court hearings and media coverage is traumatic, said Atlanta attorney L. Chris Stewart, who represents Marrow, as well as relatives of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others killed in police encounters.

“Normally, you’re dead,” the lawyer said. “(Marrow) survived one of these instances where all my other clients don’t. All my other clients died on video. Des is one of the few that survived.”

From Youngstown to McDonough

Marrow, a Youngstown, Ohio, native, finished his senior year as cornerback for the University of Toledo Rockets, making the all-conference team in 2011. He entered the 2012 NFL Draft. When his name wasn’t called, he signed with the Houston Texans. The Texans released him, and he played in preseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before injuring his knee.

He spent parts of 2013 and 2014 trying to make the roster of a Canadian football team before going home to Mahoning County, where he opened a gym and helped a nonprofit start a workout program to keep kids off the streets, he said.

A woman whom Marrow had trained introduced him to her nephew, former NFLer Dwight Johnson, who needed help with a gym in McDonough, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, so Marrow headed south to start a new life.

On December 2, 2017, Marrow was driving to his friend’s barber shop for a trim when, he says, two young White men began harassing him. Noticing the license plate on Marrow’s truck, they told him to go back to Ohio and hurled a racial epithet before hurling a cup of coffee at his truck, Marrow said.

Marrow followed them into a parking lot to get their license plate and talk to them, he said, but police described the encounter as a “road rage” incident. Marrow acknowledged to Officer Rose that he issued an empty threat to shoot the men after one of them threatened to kill him, court documents show. A pat-down and vehicle search revealed no weapons.

He sat on the covered bed of his Chevrolet Avalanche, mostly unattended, for about 25 minutes as police spoke to witnesses, court documents say. One of the young men in the other car told police Marrow followed them, tried to hit their car and threw a rock, a police report says.

Marrow was surprised when Rose and Officer Matt Donaldson said they were arresting him for aggressive driving, reckless driving and making terroristic threats, he said.

“Naturally, I’m confused because I’m feeling like I’m the victim. I’ve got coffee on me. All this stuff has transpired,” he said.

When CNN asked Monday if the two White men were charged, Henry County police said they would check their records but did not immediately call back.

The videos

A police audio recording indicates Marrow resisted a second body search and initially declined to turn around to be handcuffed, but he was in cuffs within 15 seconds after police threatened to deploy a Taser, according to an incident report and court documents.

Officers said in the police report that Marrow “was struggling” with them and attempted to head-butt and kick them, which Marrow denies.

This is about where a bystander video begins, with Donaldson and Rose leading a handcuffed Marrow to his truck before slamming him over the tailgate.

“I’m not even doing nothing. I’m not even fighting back,” Marrow says, repeating the latter sentence increasingly louder.

“A few seconds later, without any warning or instruction to Marrow to get on the ground, they lifted his legs and took him to the ground,” court documents show.

Witnesses encircle the scene, standing feet away. Police don’t admonish them. Now crying, Marrow tells officers he didn’t do anything, the video shows. As officers search him, he at one point jerks away, straining to yell, “You slammed me on my fing head!”

Rose grabs him by the throat with one hand, and Marrow squeals, “I can’t breathe,” three times, while a third officer places a hand on Marrow’s shoulder and calmly says, “Settle down.”

Rose’s hand “remained on Marrow’s throat for six to eight seconds until Marrow was rendered unconscious. Marrow remained unconscious for about thirty seconds,” court documents say.

Later, as Marrow sits in the back of a squad car, Rose tells Donaldson that Marrow is “strong as an ox” and he struggled to sweep Marrow’s leg, police audio shows. He also says he won’t be sharing all the details of the arrest in his report.

“I’m not going to write it down, but hell yeah, I choked that motherer when you was still wrestling him,” Rose says.

When Marrow was taken to the Henry County Detention Center, a nurse refused to admit him because of his injuries. He was transported to a hospital and diagnosed with a “closed head injury,” back and shoulder strains and abrasions to his knee, shoulder and back, court documents show.

DA: ‘David Rose tarnished the badge’

Rose was charged with simple battery, two counts of violation of oath, false official writings and making a false statement.

The felonies were dropped in his plea deal. He accepted a misdemeanor battery charge and a sentence of 12 months’ probation and 40 hours of community service, court records show. He also must complete an anger management class.

The real win, Marrow’s attorney said, was when Rose signed a document saying, “I knowingly forfeit and relinquish all rights, titles and privileges of practicing as a peace officer in the state of Georgia for life.”

Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo did not return an email and phone call seeking comment, but he issued a statement saying Rose had been held accountable.

“Through his revealing words and actions, David Rose tarnished the badge that represents all the honorable and brave men and women who serve in law enforcement,” Pattillo said. “Rose will never work as a police officer again.”

Rose’s attorney did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Marrow received probation and community service after pleading no contest to obstruction, reckless driving and aggressive driving. He, too, was ordered to take an anger management class, as well as a defensive driving course, court records show.

‘Two results that are pretty much unheard of’

Marrow scored a second victory last week when a federal judge ruled his civil rights case against Rose can go forward (while tossing his cases against the county and Donaldson).

Rose had contended he enjoyed immunity as a police officer, but US District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled while Rose’s and Donaldson’s takedown was reasonable, “choking Marrow constituted an excessive and objectively unreasonable use of force in violation of Marrow’s Fourth Amendment rights.”

Boulee also wrote, “It would be objectively unreasonable to conclude that Marrow was a threat to the officers or anyone else or was at risk of fleeing at that time. “

Rose apparently knew the law, the judge said, when he told Donaldson “he would not include the facts of the choking incident in his report” and misrepresented them in his official account.

Henry County Police Chief Mark Amerman fired Rose in May 2018, months after Marrow’s arrest. Donaldson’s actions were within department policy, the chief said.

Stewart applauded Boulee’s decision and told CNN that Marrow “is blessed because he’s just gotten two results that are pretty much unheard of,” referring to the guilty plea and federal court ruling.

The attorney further hopes that because Boulee declined to dismiss Marrow’s claim for punitive damages, the federal case will be resolved quickly, he said through a representative.

Henry County attorney Patrick Jaugstetter declined to comment on pending litigation.

‘I’m just working on me’

No matter what happens in federal court, Marrow faces a long path to normalcy, he said.

“He stated he still suffers symptoms as a result of his injuries, including mood swings, depression and flashbacks, and he has uncontrollable anxiety every time he sees a police officer,” the judge’s ruling states.

Marrow’s reaction to seeing police depends, the only constant being “real angst,” he told CNN.

“I’m losing control of what’s going on with my body. Sometimes I pee on myself. Sometimes I freak out, I do something (erratic),” Marrow said.

He’s pained by his son’s strange looks, and other kids look at him like, “He’s weird,” he said, “but I’m just having a panic attack.”

His out-of-character behavior began shortly after his arrest. His wife couldn’t handle it, he said. She left him. Other relationships and friendships crumbled, he said. At his McDonough gym, coworkers and parents of the youngsters he trained whispered about his then-felony charges.

He was let go in February 2018. He slept outside for a while “until he could find another place to call home,” he said.

“The situation just broke me as a person,” Marrow said. “I felt like everyone was against me.”

His emotions and finances remain rocky, but he’s trying to “start over, find God and pick myself back up,” he said. He’s been working out and serving as a personal trainer to others. He’s also learned to cook and has a side hustle cooking at an Atlanta club. It’s low-key therapy, he said, and he enjoys being able to do his job and quietly walk out the back door.

Football taught him to dig deep and stay focused on his task, he said, so that’s his guiding principle as he puts the pieces back together.

“I’m just working on me, learning to control the controllable,” Marrow said. “Keep your mind stronger than your emotions — that’s what helped me get through.”