TDCJ Guard Gets Two Years For Lying About Kicking Inmate In The Head

A TDCJ guard who had been found guilty of filing a false “use of force” report was sentenced today to what no doubt will be two very uncomfortable years in a federal prison. (Or maybe guards take care of their own? We don’t wanna know.)

Eugene Morris, 41, had kicked an inmate in the head repeatedly after the prisoner used a racial slur against a guard; Morris then reported he had simply used a bear-hug on the inmate and forced him to the floor after getting head-butted.

The details are a little more Oz-like, though, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

Morris, according to the
testimony, thereafter entered the inmate’s cell, cuffed the inmates
hands behind his back and escorted the inmate to his office. In the
office, behind closed doors, Morris angrily confronted the inmate about
his treatment of the other officer, then knocked the inmate to the floor
and repeatedly kicked the handcuffed inmate in the head with a booted
foot.

The inmate “sustained severe head trauma, including brain
injuries and multiple facial and skull fractures and was unconscious for
a week after the assault,” the office said. “Testimony proved it took the inmate months to
relearn how to use his right arm and leg, and [he] continues to have trouble
with his balance and fine motor control in his right hand. Even at
trial, the inmate had no memory of the assault nor the days in the
hospital that followed.”

A jury convicted Morris of filing a false report, but acquitted him on charges of causing bodily injury (huh?!) and persuading others to file false reports.

U.S. Judge Nancy Atlas sentenced him to 24 months in prison, with a further two years of supervised release.