Bexar County Correction Officer Civil Rights Case

In a case investigated by the San Antonio Division of the FBI with assistance from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, lawyers with the United States Department of Justice (”DOJ”) announced in a DOJ Press Release at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/November/09-crt-1244.html that a Bexar County, Texas Corrections Officer has been charged in a four count federal indictment with violating the civil rights of two detainees and obstructing justice.  According to the November 17, 2009 Press Release, trial lawyers with the DOJ Civil Rights Division contend that the charges stem from two December 2004 incidents in which the Bexar County Corrections Officer from San Antonio allegedly assaulted inmates at the Bexar County Detention Center by kicking and striking them.  As stated in the DOJ Press Release, the indictment also charges the Corrections Officer with obstructing justice by providing false statements about the assaults.  In this regard, an indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt, so a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted on the civil rights charges, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment on each civil rights charge and 20 years imprisonment on each obstruction charge.