The attorney for an Alabama inmate who was allegedly beaten by two Alabama Department of Corrections officers last year is asking why the state’s prison system apparently continued to let allow them to work around other inmates, even after an internal investigation identified the two as perpetrators in a vicious assault.

Susanne Cordner, a Montgomery lawyer, is representing William L. Rhinesmith, 75, currently an inmate at Kilby Infirmary.

Last month, two Alabama Department of Corrections officers were indicted for first degree assault in connection with a beating that left Rhinesmith seriously injured.

Samuel Adam Dial, 32, of Hillsboro, and Jesse Ray Cobb, 35, of Harvest, were both arrested on Feb. 16.

According to court documents, the two are accused of seriously beating Rhinesmith, 75, back in October 2023 when he was an inmate in Limestone Correctional Facility.

Rhinesmith last year began serving a five-year sentence for display of obscene matter.

Both Dial and Cobb were released from the Limestone County Jail on $10,000 bond. Dial’s arraignment is set for May 8. Cobb’s is set for June 5.

Cordner said Rhinesmith sustained serious head injuries following the beating on Oct. 19 and is currently unable to stand for long periods or maintain his balance. Prior to that, he was a man with a history of diabetes and blood pressure problems, but otherwise in reasonably good health.

According to Cordner, Rhinesmith said he had only been at Limestone Correctional for about two weeks when he was approached in the prison’s B Dorm by two officers during master count. According to him, they asked for his ID, what prison he had come from and what he was “in for.”

After he told them, the two officers walked on, then returned a few minutes later and told him to follow them.

Cordner said, according to Rhinesmith, he was led to an area outside the entrance to the dorm where the view for security cameras is obscured.

“They told him to face the wall. Bill faced the wall, and then he said one of the officers just started beating him,” Cordner said. “He turned around. The officer said to him, ‘Don’t look at me. Look at the wall. If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you.’”

Then, the two began beating him in the head – according to court documents, with a broom handle. Cordner said Rhinesmith lost consciousness soon after.

Cordner said other inmates found Rhinesmith “covered in blood.”

He was later taken to Huntsville Hospital, then sent back to Limestone Correctional before later being transferred to Kilby Infirmary. He was treated for bleeding on his brain.

“He chipped a tooth. His right eye was swollen shut after the beating, both of his ears were really swollen,” she said. When she saw him a week later, Rhinesmith still had a black eye and bruises on his neck as well, Cordner said.

By December, Rhinesmith was exhibiting stroke-like symptoms, severe headaches, and had difficulty walking. An emergency procedure that month at Jackson Hospital drained blood from his brain, she said.

“He has been back at Kilby for about six weeks,” she said. “He’s still in the infirmary because his equilibrium is off. He can’t stand or walk without a walker.”

Cordner said the Alabama Department of Corrections began an investigation into the incident later that same month, which Rhinesmith was told wrapped up in mid-December. She says Rhinesmith was informed by ADOC that video footage in part confirmed his account.

However, she said, as far as she could determine, ADOC still waited until mid-February, when Cobb and Dial were indicted, to transfer them to non-contact duty.

“Until the indictments were announced, from what I heard from other inmates at Limestone, the officers were still working at Limestone and they were not in non-contact positions,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t know why, when ADOC is intending to be involved in pressing charges against these guys, it would leave them around inmates until they’re indicted.”

AL.com asked ADOC for a comment. A spokesperson referred to the original press statement sent out at the time of the officers’ arrest:

“On February 8, 2023, Samuel Dial and Jesse Cobb, correctional officers at Limestone Correctional Facility, were indicted for Assault I of inmate William Rhinesmith. Both officers turned themselves in but are currently out on bond. They have been assigned non-contact posts pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division.”