KENTUCKY
A jury on Wednesday convicted a supervisory deputy jailer at an Eastern Kentucky detention center for punching and stomping an inmate, according to officials.
The jury convicted 32-year-old Kevin Asher of deprivation of civil rights under color of law, and obstruction of justice. The jury deliberated for four hours before arriving at the verdicts. The trial lasted two and a half days, officials stated.
Sentencing for Asher is scheduled for Aug. 2. Asher is facing up to 10 years for assault under color of law and 20 years for obstruction of justice.
According to evidence and testimony, in November 2012, Asher and another deputy jailer, Damon Wayne Hickman, physically assaulted Gary Hill, a 55-year-old inmate. Hill had been arrested for misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
Asher and Hickman approached Hill after Hill had run the faucet in his jail cell to the point where water had spilled out onto the floor, according to officials.
Hickman testified at trial that he punched Hill in the face, causing Hill to fall onto the floor. Hickman further testified that while Hill was curled up in a fetal position, he and Asher began stomping and kicking Hill.
Asher and Hickman then immobilized Hill in a restraint chair and continued to beat him. Evidence established that in the time following the assault, Hill received no medical attention for his wounds.
The jury also found that Asher obstructed justice by filling out an incident report at the jail in which he falsely claimed that Hill had slipped and fallen onto the floor and that no physical force had been used against him.
The Kentucky River Regional Jail is a holding jail for pre-trial detainees. As a supervisory deputy jailer, Asher is responsible for the custody, care, safety and control of the inmates at the jail.
Hickman pleaded guilty last year for his role in a separate assault at the same jail. The victim of that assault died.