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| Inmate's Lawyer Releases Abuse Details |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/27/2006 |
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A Rhode Island inmate at the state prison in Cranston was forced by prison staffers to eat his own fecal matter and hit in the face with a telephone book, abuse that "shocks the conscience," his lawyer said last week. Corrections Director A.T Wall placed nine staff members at the Adult Correctional Institutions on paid administrative leave last week after the alleged incident on Feb. 14. One has since gone back to work, the department said recently. Wall said the suspended staffers either participated in the abuse or knew about it and didn't report it. Wall did not release the name of the inmate or say what had happened to him, but lawyer Kenneth Schreiber said the inmate was Michael Walsh, 30, of East Providence. Schreiber said the abuse happened after Walsh was caught smuggling cigarettes into the prison inside a body cavity. The cigarettes were wrapped in plastic, and a captain forced Walsh to put fecal matter that was on the plastic in his mouth, Schreiber said. He was not allowed to wash out his mouth or use a toothbrush until the following day, he said. Describing his client's state of mind while the abuse was happening, he said Walsh "didn't know what to do" and was "intimidated, almost in tears" as two lieutenants and a corrections officer looked on and laughed. Later, while being questioned about the cigarette smuggling, a lieutenant hit Walsh with a phone book, Schreiber said. Walsh is cooperating with the investigation into the alleged abuse, and is considering filing a private criminal complaint as well as a civil rights complaint, Schreiber said. Wall would not comment on the allegations while the investigation is ongoing. |
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