|
CENTER ON JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRESS ROOM | |
| http://www.cjcj.org/index.php |
| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 1622 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
SACRAMENTO - The violence inside California's youth prisons came into Americans' homes Thursday when a chilling videotape of a January beating of two inmates was released as part of a stepped-up effort to prosecute six officers involved in the incident.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he has reviewed the tape of the Jan. 20 incident at a Stockton youth prison "many, many times" and described the kicking of a 19-year-old inmate after he was subdued as "excessive force."
The tape, broadcast nationally, recalled the notorious videotaped beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
Lockyer said his review -- triggered after San Joaquin County prosecutors refused to press charges -- might be finished as early as today. But he voiced reservations that the release of the recording and its repeated broadcast could hamper any prosecution and undermine the chances of potential defendants to a fair trial.
The incident and the recording -- first revealed by the San Jose Mercury News two weeks ago -- are quickly turning into a struggle over whether the Schwarzenegger administration can make good on its promise to create an atmosphere in which guards are not afraid to disclose wrongdoing by other officers.
In a statement, Walt Allen, director of the California Youth Authority, said he shared Lockyer's concern that release of the video "might benefit those who should be punished."
But Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Rosemead, said it was time to act. Before an unusual public screening of the video, she said: "The stakes are too high to simply ignore what we are about to see. The credibility of the entire California correctional system is on the line."
The video was released by Romero along with Don Spector, who runs the Prison Law Office, which has sued the CYA.
Spector said failure to prosecute the guards would undermine the administration's efforts to break the officers' code of silence and would continue an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in CYA facilities. All six officers under investigation have invoked their right against self-incrimination.
Two weeks after the Stockton incident, state-commissioned reports said that California subjects young inmates to the harshest punishments of any juvenile detention system in the nation.
Statewide, about 4,000 young offenders are in CYA institutions. Some of the most violent are at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional facility in Stockton, where the altercation erupted about 11 a.m. on Jan. 20.
Authorities have said wards Vincent Baker, 19, of Stockton and Narcisco Morales, 21, of Madera began the altercation in an office outside a large day room at Parajo Hall that is surrounded by cells. The two were in the office for a counseling session, but what provoked the blow up has not been disclosed.
About a minute into the recording, Baker and Youth Correctional Counselor Marcel Berry tumble out of the office. While Berry is subduing Baker, Morales, in shorts, is engaged in a fight with Senior Youth Correctional counselor Delwin Brown.
As detailed in an internal CYA investigation, the video shows Brown striking Morales repeatedly in the head with closed fists after Morales lay face down on the floor and was no longer resisting.
Brown sat on Morales' back and did not attempt to handcuff or restrain him. And the video shows Brown grabbing Morales' hair and lifting his head off the ground, apparently to get a better angle for his punches. Investigators said Brown punched Morales approximately 28 times, about 13 with his right hand and 15 with his left.
Meanwhile, Berry, after handcuffing Baker, stood up and kicked Baker around his face while he was lying down and not resisting. Investigators said Baker's face was bruised on the right side.
Officers have leeway in controlling prisoners, but the question in this case is whether they went beyond what is allowed by law and the CYA's own rules.
San Joaquin County prosecutors initially filed charges against the wards, but they were dropped when the officers invoked their right against self-incrimination.
They declined to file criminal charges against the officers, arguing, in part, that they were acting in self defense.
The officers, who are on paid administrative leave, have not commented. But David Darchuk, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association chapter at Chaderjian, described them as "six of the finest people I know."
He said Brown is a Marine reservist and called him "one of the most stand-up guys you're ever going to meet."
But Darchuk acknowledged that life on the front lines of the CYA is challenging. After watching the video, he said: "We face similar situations or situations that are far worse than that almost daily."
"We're almost into a combat situation where people come in everyday wondering what's going to happen in terms of violence," he said.
| This site and its contents © 2002 Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice |