Texas Civil Rights Case

Attorneys with the U. S. Department of Justice (”DOJ”) Civil Rights Division announced in an August 26, 2009 Press Release that a former Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officer has been sentenced in a Houston federal court for providing a false statement related to a federal civil rights investigation.  See, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/August/09-crt-873.html .  According to the DOJ Press Release, a federal jury in Houston found the man guilty on May 21, 2008 of providing false information in an official report relating to the alleged assault of a prison inmate under his supervision.  As stated in the Press Release, the evidence at trial focused on a physical altercation between the man and an inmate in which the inmate suffered a factured skull and brain injuries.  The DOJ Press Release said that the man was convicted of falsely asserting in his report that the victim’s injuries were caused when the victim’s head unintentionally hit the floor during the struggle.  The former correctional officer was charged with causing the victim’s injuries by kicking the inmate in the head while the inmate lay on the ground with his hands behind his back; however, the Press Release states that the jury found the man not guilty of a civil rights violation based on these DOJ allegations.  The case was investigated by the FBI and the Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.