LOS ANGELES, July 30 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union voiced outrage about guards at a Los Angeles County jail faking records of their regular rounds prior to an inmate's suicide.
The civil rights group is accusing sheriff's deputies of a "coverup" in a 2009 incident in which an inmate was apparently dead in his cell for hours despite an official log that showed a guard had passed the cell during that time.
The Los Angeles Times said Friday county investigators discovered the deputies had used a fake bar code that indicated they were making their rounds when they actually had not. Deputies carry hand-scanners to record the bar codes placed in the corridors of the downtown lockup.
The ACLU said in a written statement that an inmate had sent them a letter stating that the inmate who killed himself had appeared to be mentally disturbed prior to the suicide.
UPI