Relationship Details

This document is an indictment filed on March 12, 2014, in the Northern District of Texas against three correctional officers: Frederick Hernandez, Joey Rosas, and Christopher Moore. The defendants are charged with making false statements to the Department of Justice by falsifying logs to claim they conducted mandatory 30-minute rounds and formal inmate counts in the 'Flight Line Unit' (a housing unit, not an aviation facility) at the Big Spring Correctional Center during the night shift of August 22-23, 2012. The indictment lists seven counts of false statements and aiding and abetting.

This document is an opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirming the sentence of Frederick Hernandez, a former correctional officer. Hernandez pled guilty to making false statements by falsifying logs regarding inmate safety checks during a shift in which inmate Luis Bent committed suicide. The court upheld a sentencing enhancement, ruling that Hernandez's failure to perform mandatory checks while knowing the inmate was suicidal constituted a conscious or reckless risk of death. This case serves as a legal precedent regarding prison guard liability and falsification of records in the context of inmate suicide.