LA Sheriff Launches Probe Into Alleged Inmate Beating

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Sheriff's officials launched an internal criminal investigation Tuesday into the alleged beating of a Los Angeles County jail inmate by deputies that was witnessed by an ACLU staffer last month.

Spokesman Steve Whitmore said the sheriff's office of independent review will look into the incident, in which two deputies allegedly hit and kicked an unconscious man on Jan. 24.

He said an administrative review was under way when ACLU attorney Esther Lim filed a court declaration Monday describing the brutal beating of inmate James Parker, which she saw through a window while meeting with another inmate at Twin Towers jail.

The sheriff's log entry on the use-of-force incident said Parker punched deputies and fought until he was hit with a stun gun.

In the court declaration, Lim said the two deputies beat Parker for two minutes even though he was unconscious and not fighting back.

"Mr. Parker looked like he was a mannequin that was being used as a punching bag," Lim wrote. "I thought he was knocked out, or perhaps even dead."

A declaration from the inmate who was meeting with Lim, Christopher Brown, also described a brutal and unprovoked beating.

Whitmore said that if Lim thought Parker was dead or permanently injured, she should have called for medical help or reported it immediately.

"What do you do when you think you see someone being beaten to death? You scream, and you tell someone and you ask someone to

check on him. But she didn't do any of that," Whitmore said.

ACLU managing attorney Peter Eliasberg said Lim took appropriate steps to check on the 35-year-old and confirm that he wasn't dead or brain damaged.

"She was also really scared," he said. The sheriff's "log is full of fabrications. We have no confidence in their abilities to investigate themselves."

The ACLU has filed dozens of complaints about deputies beating prisoners in county jails, most witnessed only by deputies and inmates, Eliasberg said. The sheriff's department always says the incidents have been investigated and the deputies are not at fault, he added, so ACLU attorneys didn't think they would get much traction by reporting the incident.

Lim said the deputies involved told Parker to "stop fighting" to later justify their actions with the help of recordings or others who may have heard their commands.

One of the deputies involved was Ryan Hirsch. The other was identified only by his last name, Ochoa.

Whitmore wouldn't confirm their names. He said one of the deputies is on medical leave because of a broken hand sustained during the incident; the other has been reassigned to another post at the jail.

Parker is being kept away from other inmates and accompanied at all times by a sergeant to maintain the integrity of the investigation, Whitmore said. The inmate was charged Monday with felony battery and resisting an officer.

He got stitches on his face, and suffered from a swollen cheek and eye and pain in his ribs, according to the ACLU.