On June 27, 1977, Louis Wallace, an inmate at the Mobile County Jail in Alabama was shot and killed by jail staff during an escape attempt. On June 27, 1977, the United States filed a two-count indictment against jail officials in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama alleging violations of 18 U.S.C. 241 and 242. The first count was brought against all nine jail officials on grounds that they had conspired to kill an inmate attempting to escape in order to create a deterrent for future escape attempts. The second count was brought only against the official who actually shot and killed the inmate.

The defendants moved to dismiss the indictment and the district court (Chief Judge Virgil Pittman) dismissed it without prejudice. As to the first count, the court held that the indictment was missing the essential element of specific intent. Count two was held insufficient because of the absence of the word willfully. The court explained that the question was not whether the defendant had willfully shot the inmate, but whether he had willfully deprived him of his civil rights. United States v. Purvis, 436 F.Supp 770 (S.D. Ala. Aug. 17, 1977).

The United States appealed the dismissal of the first count because they were concerned with the precedent it would establish for other cases. The Fifth Circuit court of appeals (Judge Paul Hitch Roney) reversed and remanded the lower court's decision. The court noted that the allegations were not fatally deficient for a lack of technical words, and this was especially true in this case because the statute itself did not include intent and because intent is assumed to be alleged when dealing with a conspiracy. The court elaborated that what is essential is that defendants be fairly informed of charges, and they were in this case. United States v. Purvis, 580 F.2d 853 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 914 (1979).

The docket for this case is not available on PACER, and therefore our information ends with the Supreme Court's Feb. 21, 1979 denial of the petition for writ of certiorari.

Sherrie Waldrup - 04/03/2006


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