Jail Inmate Abuse
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Three volunteers at downtown jails filed sworn statements saying they had seen deputies beating inmates, but supervising jailers did not take reports of abuse seriously, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report to be filed with a court today.
The allegations come amid an FBI probe into allegations of jail beatings of other deputy misconduct.
Sheriff Lee Baca met with U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte yesterday to help soothe tensions triggered by an undercover sting in which a deputy allegedly accepted about $1,500 to get a cell phone to an inmate who turned out to be an FBI informant.
The latest allegations come from two chaplains and movie producer Scott Budnick, who tutors inmates at Men's Central Jail in writing. In two cases, the witnesses said deputies could be heard yelling ``stop fighting" as they pummeled inmates who did not appear to be resisting, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The ACLU of Southern California is a court-appointed monitor of jailhouse conditions.
Chaplain Paulino Juarez said he was ministering to an inmate at the Men's Central Jail on Feb. 11, 2009, when he heard thumps and gasps. When he went to see what was going on, he saw three deputies beating an inmate against a wall, The Times reported.
Juarez said he believed the inmate was handcuffed because he never raised his hands to protect his face. ``I am doing nothing wrong; please stop," he could be heard pleading. Eventually, the inmate collapsed, but the deputies kept kicking him, Juarez said.
``Check if he has HIV,'' Juarez remembered one jailer saying when a pool of blood formed around the man.
Juarez filed a report at the time and was interviewed by sheriff's detectives. Afterward, he said deputies would call him ``rat" and other insults. After two years of no action, Juarez asked for and got a meeting with Baca.
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Three volunteers at downtown jails filed sworn statements saying they had seen deputies beating inmates, but supervising jailers did not take reports of abuse seriously, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report to be filed with a court today.
The allegations come amid an FBI probe into allegations of jail beatings of other deputy misconduct.
Sheriff Lee Baca met with U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte yesterday to help soothe tensions triggered by an undercover sting in which a deputy allegedly accepted about $1,500 to get a cell phone to an inmate who turned out to be an FBI informant.
The latest allegations come from two chaplains and movie producer Scott Budnick, who tutors inmates at Men's Central Jail in writing. In two cases, the witnesses said deputies could be heard yelling ``stop fighting" as they pummeled inmates who did not appear to be resisting, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The ACLU of Southern California is a court-appointed monitor of jailhouse conditions.
Chaplain Paulino Juarez said he was ministering to an inmate at the Men's Central Jail on Feb. 11, 2009, when he heard thumps and gasps. When he went to see what was going on, he saw three deputies beating an inmate against a wall, The Times reported.
Juarez said he believed the inmate was handcuffed because he never raised his hands to protect his face. ``I am doing nothing wrong; please stop," he could be heard pleading. Eventually, the inmate collapsed, but the deputies kept kicking him, Juarez said.
``Check if he has HIV,'' Juarez remembered one jailer saying when a pool of blood formed around the man.
Juarez filed a report at the time and was interviewed by sheriff's detectives. Afterward, he said deputies would call him ``rat" and other insults. After two years of no action, Juarez asked for and got a meeting with Baca.
