Carol Lackner, the prison guard who is accused of leaving her post without permission while an inmate died inside a 101-degree cell, was disciplined four years ago for leaving her post unauthorized in a similar case, according to The Associated Press.
In 2010, Lackner was disciplined for leaving her post and leaving Rikers Island entirely without permission while working in a women's section of the jail, according to the documents obtained through a public records request by the AP.
More recently, Lackner was suspended for 30 days following the Feb. 15 death of 56-year-old mentally ill inmate Jerome Murdough, the AP reported. A city corrections investigation found she abandoned her post in a mental health observation unit 20 minutes before the homeless ex-Marine was discovered unresponsive in his overheated cell.
The documents obtained by the AP also show correction officials brought administrative charges against Lackner in 2011 for failing to report that she had been arrested, according to the AP. Lackner allegedly kicked in a wooden gate at a man's Queens home, according to a criminal complaint.
The case was settled with Lackner pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, a noncriminal violation, and paying $1,100 in restitution, but there was no administrative disposition of that case, her lawyer said, the AP reported.
Lackner met with corrections officials in 2012 but never faced a trial on the administrative charges. Personnel records of correction officers, including disciplinary matters, are confidential, a department spokesman said, according to the AP.
Murdough "basically baked to death" when he was left unchecked for at least four hours in a part of the jail that had a malfunctioning heater, a city official told the AP.
While logbook entries indicate Lackner toured the area every half hour as required, she isn't seen on video doing so, according to another city official, who both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to discuss specifics of the case, according to the AP.
A lawyer for Murdough's mother, who is planning a $25 million lawsuit against the city, said in a statement that no other prisoners should "suffer and die at the hands of corrections officers who do not live up to their responsibilities," the AP reported.
Murdough suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to his family, according to the AP. He was on psychotropic medication, which experts say can make people more sensitive to the heat.
The medical examiner's office says more tests are needed to determine exactly how he died, but an investigator said he appeared to have died from hyperthermia, the AP reported.
