Danny Ray Duncan, Civil Rights Violation, North Carolina 2010

Former Columbus County Detention Center Sergeant Danny Ray Duncan, 63, has pleaded guilty to willfully depriving a pretrial detainee of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, the Grimy Times has learned.

According to court documents, on August 2, 2010, Duncan, while working the overnight shift as a sergeant in the Columbus County Detention Center in Whiteville, North Carolina, placed a pretrial detainee into a cell knowing there was a substantial risk that the inmates in the cell would assault the detainee.

Duncan further admitted that he acted with deliberate indifference to the risk of assault, and that the detainee suffered bodily injury as a result of the assault.

‘When corrections officers knowingly place the people they are charged with protecting at risk of serious harm, they undermine the very fabric of our legal system,’ said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

The Civil Rights Division will aggressively prosecute these violations of our laws,’ Perez added. ‘The public has placed a great trust in law enforcement, and we must do everything we can to ensure that trust is not broken.’

Duncan faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is expected to be scheduled for January 2012.

On August 24, 2011, a federal grand jury in Wilmington, North Carolina, returned an indictment, charging former inmate Terry Lashavious McMillian, 26, for his role in assaulting the detainee. McMillian’s trial is set to begin in Greenville on November 8, 2011.

The case was jointly investigated by the Wilmington office of the FBI Charlotte Division and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The case is being jointly prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Toby W. Lathan from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Ryan R. McKinstry from the Civil Rights Division.

‘Danny Ray Duncan, 63, of Tabor City, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to willfully depriving a pretrial detainee of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law by placing a detainee at risk of serious harm from other inmates knowingly and with reckless disregard for his safety,’ a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Duncan is expected to be sentenced in January 2012. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Defendant: Danny Ray Duncan

Crime: Civil Rights Violation

City and State: Columbus County, North Carolina

Date: August 2, 2010

Sentence: Up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000

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