A former supervisor at the Pulaski County jail pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of making a false statement to FBI agents during a civil-rights investigation into a report that he had sexually abused a female inmate in 2014 and 2015.
In return for his guilty plea to the newly filed charge, an original charge of sexual abuse of a ward that Scott Hazel had faced since his indictment on Dec. 2, 2015, was dropped. A jury trial on the sexual abuse charge had been set to begin June 12 in the courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.
Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the woman Hazel is accused of forcibly having sex with in the jail on numerous occasions is to begin Sept. 12 before U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson. The defendants are Hazel, Pulaski County and Sheriff Doc Holladay, all of whom have denied the allegations.
The lawsuit accuses Hazel of battery, sexual assault and wrongful imprisonment. It alleges that the county and Holladay failed to exercise their constitutional duty to protect the inmate by creating "an atmosphere where illegal and unconstitutional behavior is tolerated and accepted."
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorney's fees.
Hazel, accompanied by defense attorney Ron Davis of Little Rock, stood before Miller on Friday morning and listened to Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters read a set of stipulated facts in the criminal case that Hazel then agreed were correct.
According to those facts, which are contained in a written plea agreement, the FBI was investigating Hazel, a classification sergeant at the jail, in connection with allegations that he had deprived a federal inmate of her civil rights while she was being held at the jail. In an interview on Sept. 15, 2015, agents asked Hazel about an incident on the evening of Feb. 6, 2015, when he checked the woman out of her assigned place of detention and took her to a private office.
Hazel told the agents the woman was a confidential informant and that he took her to the private office to show her photographs of potentially corrupt guards, according to the stipulation. "In fact," the document states, "Hazel was not using [the woman] as a confidential informant, and Hazel did not show [her] photos of guards. When Hazel made this statement, he knew it was false."
Lt. Cody Burk, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said Friday that Hazel resigned Oct. 13, 2015, while under investigation.
The plea agreement stipulates that when Hazel is sentenced, he will face a six-level enhancement under federal sentencing guidelines "because the offense was committed under the color of law."
While his penalty range won't be known until a pre-sentence report is completed, a federal sentencing table indicates Hazel is facing at least six months in prison. However, the agreement also states that the government won't oppose a probationary sentence if the judge determines one is appropriate.
In the civil case, attorneys Kathryn Hudson and Justin Huett of Little Rock said the inmate was subjected to civil-rights violations beginning April 18, 2014, while being held in the jail as a federal inmate. The woman was eventually transferred to a federal prison to begin serving a five-year sentence for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.
The lawsuit alleges that in November 2014, Hazel entered the woman's cell and attempted to touch her sexually, but she refused his advances, and he instructed another jailer to move her to a different cell. It states, "Over the course of several months ... Hazel engaged in forced sexual intercourse with" the woman.
During that time, the suit alleges, "Hazel threatened [the inmate] with harm if she reported him, and continually transferred [her] between units at the Pulaski County Detention Center."
As a result, it says, she has suffered physical and emotional injuries, as well as medical expenses.
The lawsuit contends that jailers have a "code of silence" in which they won't report each other's misconduct and fail to take steps to stop it. As a result, it says, "deputies act unconstitutionally without fear of discipline."
The county has argued that Holladay is entitled to qualified immunity from damages, that punitive damages are barred against the county, and that the woman failed to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit.
In April, the parties jointly sought a postponement of the trial to allow Hazel's attorneys to depose the woman, who was being moved from one federal facility to another, which the defense attorneys said made it hard to schedule a visit with her. Wilson denied the request.
Metro on 06/03/2017