ANCHORAGE – A man with an already 199-year prison sentence was convicted Tuesday for assaulting a correctional officer in 2012.
James Coven, 27, was convicted of first- and second-degree assault, according to a statement from prosecutors.
While imprisoned at the Anchorage Jail Complex in 2007, Coven’s attack resulted in multiple fractures to the officer’s jaw, a fractured nose, broken teeth and a concussion, the statement said.
Coven turned on the correctional officer after he didn’t allow Coven to make a phone call and ordered him to go back to his cell, prosecutors said. Instead of returning to the cell, however, Coven “punched the officer in the head, causing the officer to fall to the ground,” the statement said. “Coven then repeatedly kicked the officer until other officers arrived.”
The officer was taken to a hospital for several injuries.
Coven had already been convicted of a double homicide in 2012 and was in the midst of serving his nearly 200-year sentence. His sentencing is scheduled for April, 2, 2014.