A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has indicted two former correctional officers from Augusta State Medical Prison on charges related to the death of an inmate. The indictment, returned on August 5, accuses Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips of violating the constitutional rights of an inmate by acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm, which resulted in the inmate’s death. Roberson is also charged with falsifying a logbook to conceal his actions.
According to the indictment, on October 28, 2020, both officers became aware of a smoldering fire inside an inmate’s cell. Instead of extinguishing the fire, evacuating the inmate, clearing smoke from the cell, or calling for emergency assistance over the radio, they allegedly left the inmate locked inside for several hours. The indictment states that this willful disregard led to the inmate dying from smoke inhalation.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division commented on the case alongside Acting U.S. Attorney Tara M. Lyons for the Southern District of Georgia and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI Augusta Field Office.
The FBI Augusta Resident Agency is leading the investigation into this incident.
Prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kirkland for the Southern District of Georgia and Special Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras and Trial Attorney Briana M. Clark from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
