CALIFORNIA – Two former Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies indicted last week for assaulting an inmate will be in federal court on Friday for a trial-setting conference where a trial date is expected to be set, according to officials.
Christopher Johnson and Robert Kirsch allegedly beat Charles Owens on June 17, 2013. He was in custody last year at the Santa Barbara County Jail awaiting trial on murder and rape charges.
The Public Defender’s Office brought the allegations to the attention of the Sheriff’s Office on August 2013, and a criminal and Internal Affairs investigation was immediately launched.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown stated in a prepared statment: “It’s a somber day for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. This agency does not tolerate the excessive or unnecessary use of force. The alleged actions are disturbing and not reflective of the professional work carried out each and every day by 99.9% of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office.”
The federal indictment charges Johnson and Kirsch with depriving Owens of his constitutional rights under the color of law and assaulting Owens.
Both were arraigned Friday. They pleaded not guilty, officials said.
Johnson allegedly prepared and submitted a report about the incident stating that Owens resisted arrest and had to be taken to the floor to be controlled but left out the fact that a “custody deputy” had kicked and kneed him, according to the indictment.
The assault was caught on a jail surveillance camera and it allegedly showed Owens being kicked and kneed, officials said.
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover stated that they can’t say how many cameras there are at the jail because of safety and security reasons.
“A live feed from the cameras is routinely monitored by staff and supervisors. Recorded video from the cameras is routinely monitored by supervisors,” she stated in an e-mail.
Upon completion of the sheriff’s investigation, Kirsch was terminated from the Sheriff’s Office on March 7, 2014 and Johnson was terminated on March 19, 2014.
Kirsch was hired as an extra help employee at the Sheriff’s Office in November of 2004, and was hired as a custody deputy in January of 2006. Johnson was hired as a custody deputy in May of 2005, Hoover stated.
In November of 2013, Owens was found guilty on charges of first degree murder, forcible rape, oral copulation, sodomy and witness intimidation with gang enhancements, according to Hoover.
In December of 2013, he was sentenced and transferred to Folsom State Prison where he is currently serving life without parole, Hoover stated.
The federal case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell, officials said.