Yesterday, a federal jury in the Western District of Louisiana, convicted Deputy United States Marshal Joshua Firmin of subjecting a prisoner to cruel and unusual punishment by severely assaulting the victim without cause. Firmin was also convicted of obstruction of justice for writing a false report about the incident.
“When the defendant beat the victim without any lawful purpose or justification, he violated the Constitution and breached the public’s trust,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The jury’s verdict sends a clear message that all Americans — including prisoners — are entitled to basic human dignity.”
The evidence at trial established that on Feb. 9, 2024, Firmin was supervising prisoner custody operations at the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana, when he assaulted the victim while the victim was restrained in handcuffs, a belly chain, and leg irons. Firmin opened a locked cell door, grabbed the victim by the collar, and struck the victim in the face with a ring of cell keys. Then Firmin pulled the victim out of the cell and shoved him forcefully against the cellblock wall. Because the victim was unable to brace himself or dampen his fall due to his restraints, the victim’s head struck the cellblock wall forcefully, resulting in a scalp injury that required staples to close. Firmin later wrote and submitted an official U.S. Marshals Service incident report in which he falsely stated that he used force in reaction to the victim attempting to spit on him.
The Office of the Inspector General, Houston Division, investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon for the Eastern District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Alec Ward of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.
