For Immediate Release:
August 25, 2023
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
Cameron Mixon (334) 242-7491
(Montgomery)—Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the convictions of Jesus Ceja, 31, of Athens, for second-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Ceja was convicted in the Limestone County Circuit Court on March 1, 2023.
The evidence at trial showed that on April 25, 2018, emergency medical personnel responded to a residence where Ceja was involved in an altercation with a woman. Police and emergency medical personnel attempted to aid Ceja whom they attempted to transport to the hospital so he could receive proper medical care. Ceja resisted the emergency and law enforcement personnel forcefully. Eventually, Ceja escaped from the ambulance and had to be forcibly subdued but not until he had fought with and attempted to harm both the medical personnel and a police officer. The police officer suffered serious physical injury as a result of Ceja’s assault.
Limestone County District Attorney Brian C. T. Jones’s office successfully prosecuted this case and obtained guilty verdicts. Ceja was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment for his convictions. Ceja sought to have his convictions reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Ceja’s convictions. The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, August 11, 2023.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Sara Rogan for her successful work on this case and thanks District Attorney Brian C. T. Jones and his staff, for their valuable assistance in defending the second-degree assault and disorderly conduct convictions.
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