Officers Falsified Reports and Tampered with Witnesses to
Cover Up Beating
Three former supervisory correctional officers at Louisiana
State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, were indicted today for beating a
handcuffed and shackled inmate, and conspiring to cover up their misconduct by
falsifying official records, committing perjury and tampering with witnesses as
well as physical evidence.
According to the indictment, former Major Daniel Davis, 40,
of Loranger, Louisiana; former Captain John Sanders, 31, of Marksville,
Louisiana; and former Captain James Savoy, 38, of Marksville, beat an inmate,
who suffered bodily injury as a result.
The defendants then created a false cover story, asserting that they had
used reasonable force to get the inmate under control after he had gotten out
of his cell and fought with officers. To
corroborate that false cover story, members of the conspiracy instructed
subordinates to clean up the inmate’s blood before internal investigators could
document it, falsified official prison reports and records, ordered
subordinates to lie to internal affairs investigators and lied under oath in a
federal civil proceeding arising out of the incident.
A fourth former supervisory correctional officer, Captain
Scotty Kennedy, 48, of Beebe, Arkansas, pleaded guilty on Tuesday for his role
in the incident.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a
court of law.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Baton Rouge
Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederick A. Menner
Jr. of the Middle District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Christopher J.
Perras of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
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