Florida prison trying to cover up guards' beating of inmate that broke her neck: Lawsuit

In August, four guards at the Lowell Correctional Facility in Marion County, Florida were accused of beating Cheryl Weimar, a disabled inmate, so savagely that they broke her neck and rendered her quadriplegic.

On Tuesday, the Miami Heraldreported that the attorney representing Weimar in a federal civil rights lawsuit has sought an emergency order from a judge, alleging that the Florida Department of Corrections is refusing to allow Weimar to be photographed as evidence in the case.

Weimar, a native of Broward County, reportedly aroused the four correctional officers' anger by telling them her pre-existing hip condition rendered her unable to clean toilets as ordered. During the altercation, she said she was having a psychological episode. The guards allegedly responded by slamming her on a concrete floor and dragging her "like a rag doll" until she was nearly dead.

She is being fed through a tube after her injuries, and is completely paralyzed from the neck down. None of the officers involved in the incident have been fired, although prison officials have reassigned them pending an inquiry.

The Lowell Correctional Facility, the largest women's prison in Florida, is now also the subject of an investigation by the Department of Justice.