A federal judge ordered a former Newton County jailer to pay $638,000 for setting up a prisoner for a brutal assault.
Shermaine Carlisle, who was fired and charged with battery and making false statements after the June 2019 incident, let three prisoners into the cell of Sean Hall, knowing that they intended to attack him, according to U.S. District Court Judge William Ray II.
“The Court finds that Defendant conspired with the inmates to brutally attack Plaintiff, which caused Plaintiff to suffer serious physical, cognitive, and emotional and psychological injuries,” Ray wrote in his Monday ruling.
Hall’s attorney, Mark Begnaud, saw the order as a hopeful sign.
“We believe that this award is an indication of the new times we are living in — where the fact that a person is in custody does not mean that we value his or her life or injuries any less,” said Begnaud.
Carlisle, who couldn’t be reached Friday, has denied the allegations in a court filing and during testimony in federal court. “I didn’t even know Mr. Hall had any trouble with these other inmates until I was under investigation. So I am innocent in this matter,” he wrote in a filing.
Carlisle’s criminal charges were dropped last year. A prosecutor blamed the Newton County Sheriff’s Office for the dismissal in a court filing, saying the agency had done an “insufficient investigation” and failed to turn over evidence to the district attorney’s office.
Randy McGinley, district attorney for Alcovy Judicial Circuit including Newton County, noted that the burden of proof is higher in criminal cases than in civil ones. Because the charges were dismissed without prejudice, Carlisle could be prosecuted if prosecutors feel they have the evidence.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office declined to comment, other than to say the agency “separated itself from the detention officer because he did not follow the agency’s policies and procedures.”
Judge Ray said the evidence shows Carlisle “facilitated and orchestrated the attack.”
It happened on June 13, 2019, at the Covington jail where, the judge said, video shows Carlisle speaking with three prisoners at his desk. Carlisle sat at a control panel used to control locks on cell doors. After a lengthy conversation, Carlisle released the lock on Hall’s cell as the three men walked toward it, the judge wrote. Two of the attackers left their ID badges with Carlisle, who stayed at the desk.
In Hall’s cell, one man blocked the door while the other two beat Hall until he lay unconscious and badly hurt. Hall, who was being held on a probation violation from a drug possession case, had injuries to his head, neck, lips and a rib.
When Hall awoke nearly two minutes later, he had a seizure. Hall, who was sent to Central State Prison from the jail and remains in state custody, testified he doesn’t remember anything from the 15 minutes after the assault.
Hall’s attorney said it remains unclear what the motive for the attack was, or what was in it for Carlisle.
It’s also unclear how Hall might collect. Carlisle said the allegations had left him struggling to find work and provide for his family.
Hall’s attorney said his firm, Eshman Begnaud, was exploring the options, including trying to collect from the sheriff’s office’s insurance company.
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