Probe into Fulton inmate abuse is expanded

Wider investigation comes in wake of beating death

By RHONDA COOK

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The
FBI has extended its investigation into claims of inmate abuse at the
Fulton County Jail to include an Aug. 9 incident when officers
allegedly beat an inmate who was in handcuffs and leg chains, a
spokesman said Tuesday.

FBI spokesman Steve Emmett declined to give details beyond
confirming the bureau’s investigation of possible inmate abuse had
expanded to include the case of Christopher Trammell, who was injured
in the beating. The FBI already was looking into whether jailers beat
another inmate, Richard Glasco, so badly he died from his injuries last
March.

Spokeswoman Sgt. Nikita Adams-Hightower said the Fulton County
Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, will cooperate with the FBI
investigation and “give them anything they need.” She declined to
release details of the incident because there also is an ongoing
internal investigation.

Riley Taylor, the auditor for a federal judge who has ordered
improvements at the jail, said Trammell, being held on aggravated
battery and car theft charges, punched a lieutenant who tried to
intercede in a dispute between the inmate and a female detention
officer. Trammell, 27, was injured when the lieutenant subdued him.

Several other officers allegedly attacked Trammell in a treatment
room where he was waiting to be taken to the hospital, Taylor said,
answering questions at the behest of Judge Marvin Shoob.

Adams-Hightower said no officers have been disciplined or reassigned.

Macomb jail guards cleared in 2004 death

Guards at the Macomb County Jail can not be held liable in the 2004
death of a man who was locked up for failing to pay child support, a
federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals overturned a ruling by a federal judge in Detroit and
granted qualified immunity to six jail officers in a lawsuit brought by
the family of Charles Kevin Jones.

The appeals court said there
was no evidence the guards were deliberately indifferent to the medical
needs of Jones, who died after suffering a severe asthma attack while
serving a 35-day sentence at the jail.

The federal lawsuit in Detroit can continue against two nurses who worked for a jail contractor, the appeals court ruled.