CAUSED INMATE SERIOUS INJURY YET FAILED TO SECURE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
In April 2022, the United States Department of Justice announced that KL pleaded guilty to “one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for using unlawful force on an inmate and one count of being deliberately indifferent to the same inmate’s medical needs.”
On November 1, 2023, KL was sentenced to a two-year prison term, followed by two years of supervised release.
Back in 2019, KL punched an inmate in the head, knocking him to the ground, and “kicked, punched and struck the inmate multiple times in his head, chest and torso,” fracturing the inmate’s ribs and puncturing his lung. And even though KL knew the inmate required medical attention because of the attack, the officer failed to provide or secure appropriate assistance.
In a written statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division noted that, “Correctional officers who abuse the people in their custody not only violate the Constitution, but also erode public trust in the criminal justice system …. While on duty as a supervisory officer, the defendant brutally assaulted a man in a state corrections facility and then deliberately ignored his obvious medical needs resulting from the assault. The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting officials inside our jails and prisons who abuse their power and exploit their position in full disregard of the constitutional rights which we all possess.”
Who’s in need of attention now?
# # #