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SACRAMENTO - Guards at the California Youth Authority falsified their role in the January beating of two youthful offenders as they lay face down on a blood-stained floor, according to an internal investigative report obtained by the Mercury News.
The Jan. 20 incident involving correctional counselors Delwin Brown and Marcel Berry was captured on videotape and almost immediately reviewed by Youth Authority investigators. Other counselors reported that the officers were acting in self-defense. But the internal investigation determined that the two counselors continued to attack the youths after they had been subdued.
The Internal Affairs Unit found that Brown and Berry -- together with four other staff members -- relied on excessive force with Mace, water bombs and closed-fist punches in Stockton's N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility.
The guards' accounts of the Chaderjian altercation ``were misleading, factually false and contradicted by witness statements and the videotape evidence,'' internal affairs agents reported March 17, after interviewing 35 wards and 25 staff members.
The bloody altercation shines an intense light on how guards hand out physical punishment in institutions that operate largely out of sight. Investigators said the officers involved in the Jan. 20 incident tried to cover up their actions.
The guards claimed they were attacked by the wards, Vincent Baker, 19, of Stockton, and Narcisco Morales, 21, of Madera, and had to use force to subdue them. Youth Correctional Counselor Daniel Torres reported that Morales was beating counselor Brown, that attempts to stop him failed, and that Mace was used but proved ineffective. Eventually, Torres said he radioed for backup, calling it a ``double staff assault.''
Counselor Linda Bridges said when she arrived, Brown and Morales were covered with blood and Brown was hitting Morales ``in self defense.''
Although guard Brown's nose and lip bled profusely during the minute-long altercation, investigators found that ``Morales did not throw any punches. Eyewitnesses did not see Morales strike Brown,'' who one ward described as ``so mad he looked like the `Incredible Hulk.' ''
The internal affairs agents reported that Brown punched ward Morales 28 times in the head with closed fists -- 13 times with his right hand and 15 times with his left -- while securing his hair ``to get a better angle for his punches.'' Counselor Berry kicked a second ward in the face as the teenager lay ``face down on the floor, handcuffed, not resisting and no longer a threat.''
The report also raised questions about officers' willingness to disclose the actions of other guards. In several cases, staff failed to accurately describe the violent clash or gave statements contradicting what can be seen in the closely guarded videotape footage:
o Youth Correctional Officer Stevie Chiu sprayed chemical agents in the faces of Baker and Morales, although they posed no threat to staff. Chiu said he sprayed the wards at a distance of 2 to 4 feet, but the videotape appears to show the distance to be ``much closer than 2 feet,'' the report said.
o Chiu, together with Bridges, stood passively a few feet away during the altercation -- watching but not intervening -- although Bridges later told investigators that she ``attempted to separate'' them.
o Torres told interviewers that ward Morales ``was swinging wildly with closed fists'' at Brown's head, but none of that was evident in the videotape or eyewitness accounts. His description of Brown acting in self-defense also was debunked by investigators.
o Counselor Robert Dutra shot Morales with a Pepperball launcher. He said he fired from a distance as Morales was running across the room, but the recording showed Morales was pinned on the ground and Dutra shot at close range. His supervisor called it an unwarranted attack.
San Joaquin County prosecutors initially pressed charges against wards Baker and Morales but dropped the case when two of the officers invoked their right against self-incrimination. All six officers under investigation invoked those same rights when they were approached for interviews 10 days after the incident. They remain on paid administrative leave.
Lance Corcoran, executive vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said the officers were not willing to discuss the case while it was still under investigation, and their attorneys could not be reached.
The state attorney general is considering criminal charges against the officers. Peter Siggins, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary, said the matter remains under review for possible prosecution.
Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, who has been investigating conditions at the Youth Authority, cautioned that there is an appropriate time to use force in prisons but in this incident there was a point where the line was crossed. She also is disturbed by reports that other officers failed to intervene and then ``whitewashed'' their stories.
``It's not just what officers do but it's what other officers don't do,'' she said. ``To me, that's indicative of a code of silence.''
Romero is calling for a prosecution ``to the fullest extent of the law.''
Vincent Baker's mother, Lori, a Stockton health services coordinator who has viewed the videotape four times, agrees:
``These officers that were involved should not be able to work with children or young adults.''
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