Nine correctional officers at Rikers Island were set to go on trial Wednesday for the horrific beating of an inmate and the cover-up that followed at the controversy-plagued jail complex in New York City, Reuters reports.
Prosecutors have accused 10 guards in the July 2012 attack that left Jahmal Lightfoot with two fractured eye sockets and a broken nose.
Former Assistant Chief for Security Eliseo Perez and a captain, Gerald Vaughn, allegedly ordered five other officers to carry out the assault after Lightfoot reportedly stared at Perez during a weapons screening, prosecutors say. Three other guards reportedly helped hide the assault by filing false reports accusing Lightfoot of attacking first. One officer reportedly said that he was slashed, and another officer later produced a weapon that he claimed Lightfoot had used, the newswire notes. One of the 10 officers involved is set to be tried separately at a later date.
Lightfoot, now 30, is supposed to testify at the trial. He was released from prison in 2014 after serving a sentence for robbery. He has reportedly also filed a civil lawsuit against New York City and the officers.
Read more at Reuters.