LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A federal judge has postponed a trial for a Louisiana sheriff charged with ordering inmates to be beaten in retaliation for a lewd comment and complaints about jail conditions.
Trial for Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal and Gerald Savoy, a top lieutenant, was scheduled to start June 6. U.S. District Judge Donald Walter agreed Monday to postpone it indefinitely.
Prosecutors asked for the delay, saying they are weighing additional charges in the case. Ackal and Savoy were indicted in March on charges of conspiracy and deprivation of rights under color of law.
The indictment claims Ackal directed officers to assault inmates in the parish jail's chapel, where no surveillance cameras would record the April 2011 beatings.
Nine former employees of the sheriff's office already have pleaded guilty to related charges.