OKLAHOMA — A jury on Tuesday found two former Muskogee County Jail employees guilty of assaulting inmates and ordering other jailers to do so.
The two defendants also organized “meet and greet” sessions whereby inmates of neighboring counties were slammed and thrown on the floor as they arrived at the jail, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Jurors found Raymond A. Barnes, 42, and Christopher A. Brown, 31, the former jail superintendent and assistant jail superintendent, guilty of violating the civil rights of inmates by using excessive force
Both defendants were convicted of violating the rights of an inmate identified as J.R. when jailers slammed and threw J.R. head-first to the ground while he was handcuffed.
Barnes was additionally convicted of violating the rights of a second inmate, G.T., for similar conduct. Brown was acquitted of violating the rights of G.T., federal officials said.
The defendants face up to 10 years for each of the civil rights convictions. Brown faces up five years for making false statements to the FBI, which conducted the investigation.
Here is what jurors found that Barnes and Brown did at the jail, according to prosecutors.
- The two would physically punish inmates at the jail who were restrained, compliant and not posing a physical threat; organize “meet and greets,” whereby jailers would scare, punish and harm incoming inmates from neighboring counties by throwing and slamming the handcuffed inmates to the ground upon their arrival at the jail, according to federal officials.
- The two defendants threatened to fire jail employees if they reported abusive behavior directly to the sheriff or to outside law enforcement authorities.
- Also they required and encouraged jailers to write incident reports that falsely justified uses of force and contained misleading or inaccurate accounts of what had occurred when force was used.
- They created an environment within the jail that allowed unlawful beatings and assaults against inmates to continue indefinitely and without consequence, say authorities.
“Our Constitutional system of government requires this nation’s jailers to abide by the laws they enforce, and to protect the Constitutional rights of all persons in their custody,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division.