Department of Justice
United States Attorney John C. Richter
Western District of Oklahoma
February 2, 2009

CONTACT: Bob Troester 405/553-8999

TWO OKLAHOMA CORRECTIONS OFFICERS INDICTED FOR FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION IN THE DEATH OF AN OKLAHOMA CITY MAN

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today in Oklahoma City charging corrections officers Gavin Douglas Littlejohn, 25, of Oklahoma City, and Justin Mark Isch, 21, of Edmond, Oklahoma, with a federal civil rights violation for the fatal assault of Christopher Beckman at the Oklahoma County Detention Center in May of 2007, announced John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, James Finch, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Oklahoma City Field Office, and Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The indictment alleges that on May 26, 2007, at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, corrections officers Isch and Littlejohn assaulted Beckman and used excessive force amounting to punishment resulting in bodily injury and the death of Beckman.  Specifically, it is alleged that officer Isch used Beckman’s head to open a steel door and officer Littlejohn repeatedly struck Beckman about his head and face. 

Littlejohn and Isch were arrested this afternoon without incident.  Both men appeared for arraignment this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Couch.  The Court ordered the defendants released on bond under certain conditions pending trial.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

The maximum possible penalties for the civil rights violations are life in prison, without the possibility of parole, or death. By statute, the Attorney General must decide whether or not to pursue a sentence involving the death penalty.

The case was investigated by the Oklahoma City Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Dickerson Cox and Trial Attorney Michael Khoury from the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.