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| Suit Alleges 'Jailhouse Justice' in Calif. Jail |
| By Orange County Register |
| Published: 03/24/2003 |
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The soundless surveillance tape shows Orange County (Calif.) jail inmate Ryan Gene Epperson walking from a cell with his hands in his pockets, then standing, face-first, against a nearby wall. Moments later, an Orange County sheriff's deputy appears to kick away Epperson's left leg and delivers a closed- fist punch to the small of the inmate's back. The officers then take Epperson into a cell, out of the camera's view, where the inmate claims he was severely beaten by several deputies. Footage from the March 14, 2002, jail scuffle was made public by attorney John R. Cogorno last week to illustrate what he claims was an unwarranted beating by sheriff's deputies angry over Epperson's demands that they put toilet paper in his cell. The tape was aired by several television stations March 11. 'It was jailhouse justice,' Westminster attorney John R. Cogorno said. 'I think the public needs to see this tape.' Two deputies involved in the case have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but an internal sheriff's investigation is ongoing into whether the officers violated department policy. The officers have remained on the job throughout the investigation, sheriff's officials said. 'What the public is seeing in this video is only a small part of the information that is being presented in the case that is being litigated in court,' said Jon Fleischman, spokesman for Sheriff Michael S. Carona. 'The full story is going to be told, but it needs to be told in a court of law, not in the newspaper.' Another inmate, German Torres, claims he was beaten by the same deputies moments later after he slapped at a cell window and called for officers to halt the first attack. Both men filed separate federal lawsuits in recent days accusing the county and the Sheriff's Department of violating their civil rights. In court papers, attorneys for the men allege that the beatings were committed by a rogue group of sheriff's deputies who call themselves 'Untouchables.' Two days before the alleged beating, Epperson, 27, had won a rare jury acquittal on a first-degree murder charge. Cogorno suggested the not-guilty verdict might have been a factor in the deputies' alleged animosity toward his client. Attorney Kent Henderson, who is representing Torres, said he has been trying to obtain similar surveillance footage involving the altercation with his client. County officials have thus far refused to release that videotape or turn over photographs taken of alleged injuries to Torres. An FBI probe is ongoing. |
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