MONTGOMERY— Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that former Jefferson County District Attorney Charles Todd Henderson today received a two-year sentence, which was suspended for a term of six months in jail followed by 12 months of probation. Henderson was convicted of first-degree perjury on October 20, 2017. Henderson was elected District Attorney in 2016, but due to his indictment in January of 2017, he was barred from assuming the office and his subsequent conviction rendered him ineligible.
According to the sentence, if Henderson violates the terms and conditions of his probation, he will be remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections to serve the remainder of the two-year balance of imprisonment. In addition, he was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, a $1,000 Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Fund assessment, and a $100 bail bond fee. The charges arose from testimony Henderson gave prior to his election, in a domestic relations case in Jefferson County. Henderson had served as a guardian ad litem for a child whose custody was at issue in the case. The testimony involved questions about an undisclosed relationship Henderson developed with the child’s mother prior to his appointment. He was asked whether he had spent the night with the woman, which he denied. The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division presented evidence at trial that indicated he had in fact spent the night with the woman, to whom he now is married. The jury convicted Henderson after deliberating for less than one day. “Today’s sentence is a just and fair resolution of this case,” said Attorney General Marshall. “As a former District Attorney, I was especially proud to have my Special Prosecutions Division work to hold this defendant accountable for his shocking and appalling conduct. All officers of the court – and prosecutors in particular – must adhere to the highest standard of integrity. Those who fail to do so by breaking the law should expect to be prosecuted.”