The American Civil Liberties Union called for a federal investigation Thursday into allegations that two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies beat an unconscious inmate for two minutes at a County Jail last month. ACLU officials said they hope the United States attorney's office will get involved because the Sheriff's Department "has proven itself to be completely unwilling to investigate its own deputies aggressively."

Last month, Esther Lim, an ACLU staffer, filed a statement in court after witnessing the alleged beating while visiting the downtown Los Angeles jail on unrelated business. Lim said she looked through a window and saw two deputies punching and kicking an inmate while his body was limp "like he was a mannequin." The deputies seemed to be unaware of her presence, she said in the statement.

An internal sheriff's log appeared to confirm the Jan. 24 incident, but stated that the inmate was punching the deputies and remained combative until he was Tasered. Lim called the deputies' account a fabrication. James Parker remained so still during the beating, she said, that she worried he was dead.