In 2023, my then cellmate (KC) went crazy and attacked me, possibly because of pre-existing mental illness, possibly because he’d been using drugs that morning. This occurred in our room, where there is no video camera. However, there is a window in the door.
After he attacked me, the SIS officer at FCI Cumberland (GF) lied and said there was a video taken from a camera attached to the ceiling in the housing unit that can see through doors that showed me strike or attempt to strike KC with a closed fist. This was not true. I didn’t do anything other than stop him from throwing punches at me after he hit me with a piece of metal strapped to his hand.
The DHO admitted that the video didn’t show me strike KC with a closed fist, but found me guilty of fighting anyway because he somehow divined that I “intended” to do so.
Since I didn’t strike or attempt to strike my cellmate with a closed fist, I know there is no video showing this. So, I sued, demanding that the video be produced. The government, however, argued that they didn’t have to produce the video because the court should just take staff’s word for what the video showed. Two-plus years after the incident occurred, the court ordered FCI Cumberland to produce the video to me within 14 days, after which I am to produce a supplemental pleading explaining how the video exonerates me.
Today, I was able to watch the video of the alleged fight. As I suspected, SIS does not have magic video cameras that can see through walls and doors — though I almost wish they did, since it would have exonerated me. Instead, they have a very indistinct video of something happening, but you absolutely cannot tell what it is.
What this means is that I now have proof that both the SIS officer and DHO lied.