HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind.—A Hendricks County attorney suffered injuries to his face, head, and shoulder following an alleged assault by a jail inmate.
The incident happened on August 28 at the Hendricks County Jail.
Court-appointed public defender Scott Knierim was meeting with his client, Kyle Braun, in an interview room, according to court documents.
“This room has a video feed only to protect attorney-client privilege, so video only was available,” read court documents.
Three minutes into their meeting, inmate Braun leaned forward, pushed the desk towards attorney Knierim, and started throwing punches at the attorney, read court documents.
“It appears inmate Kyle Braun landed at least 4 punches to the face, head and arm of attorney Knierim,” court documents alleged.
A Hendricks County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped the attack and Knierim was escorted to medical to be checked out.
Knierim suffered injuries to his face, head and shoulder, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Prosecutors charged the inmate, Kyle Andrew Braun, with Battery causing bodily injury.
The Indiana Public Defender Council, which comprises public defenders throughout Indiana, expressed their concern about the incident.
“We want to express our sympathy for the attorney involved and extend our full support to him during this challenging time. IPDC is unaware of statistics tracking the base rate of workplace violence for public defenders in Indiana. However, we have no reason to believe that rates of violence experienced by public defenders are significantly higher than for other legal professionals.”
Braun also has pending criminal charges for Invasion of Privacy, Attempted Murder and Battery by Bodily Waste where the victim is a public safety officer.
Attorney Scott Knierim declined an interview with WRTV.
Braun’s new public defender also declined to comment.
The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office provided the following statement on the incident:
“Though this type of incident is extremely rare at our facility, The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office takes the safety of our inmates, visitors, and staff very seriously. We already had safety protocols in place prior to this incident, including video surveillance inside the attorney/client visit room and a jail deputy posted guard just outside the door of the attorney/client visit room. We are proud to say that as soon as this incident began, our deputies responded IMMEDIATELY to intervene, stop the attack, and prevent more serious injury to the visiting attorney. Historically speaking, our inmates are generally grateful for the legal assistance of their visiting attorneys. As a public safety agency, we continually evaluate the overall safety of our operational protocols. We have had discussions surrounding the specific circumstances of this incident to determine if there are any physical or technological improvements that might be made to prevent any similar incidents in the future.”
WRTV has reported that our state’s Attorney Shortage has many counties in dire need of prosecutors and public defenders.
Violence can occur in any workplace and among any type of worker, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“Among those with higher-risk are workers who exchange money with the public, delivery drivers, healthcare professionals, public service workers, customer service agents, law enforcement personnel, and those who work alone or in small groups,” according to federal OSHA.
According to the CDC, the risk for nonfatal violence resulting in days away from work is greatest for healthcare and social assistance workers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20,050 workers in the private industry experienced trauma from nonfatal workplace violence in 2020. These incidents required days away from work.
Of those victims who experienced trauma from workplace violence:
- 73% were female
- 62% were aged 25-54
- 76% worked in the healthcare and social assistance industry
- 22% required 31 or more days away from work to recover
- 22% involved 3-5 days away from work
