A GUARD WHO HAS NEVER OWNED HIS CRIMES
I swear under penalty of perjury, that the
following is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, absolutely
true.
Kay Lee
I am so frustrated by numerous identically
fruitless attempts to stop guard violence, especially in Florida,
but of course I, like many others, will continue to seek justice.
A federal case should be made out of the
latest travesty. The recent acquittal of Timothy "Big Red" Thornton
and two other guards involved in the murder of Prisoner of Florida,
Frank Valdes, has angered a lot of people across the nation.
Frank Valdes was pulled from his cell at
the Florida State Prison at Starke in July 1999 dead, with 22
broken ribs and fractures of his sternum, vertebrae, nose and
jaw, along with numerous internal injuries. There were boot prints
on his face, neck, abdomen and back. Nine guards were originally
charged in the crime. At first they claimed Valdes 'did it to
himself', but by the time they reached court over two years later,
they 'might have broken his ribs trying to revive him'.
This was a case that should have been easy
to win - and might have been won - if the trial had been moved
completely out of the North Florida area (aka "Redneck Riviera")
with its proliferation of small prison towns.
The finding of innocence was supposedly based
on the premise that, since nine officers were involved, the court
had to determine the one 'killing blow' and who struck it - or
all would go free. How in the world are we to ever know which
was 'the killing blow' and who delivered it? Does the medical
examiner know? Do the guards even know? Of course not, but somehow
this detail becomes our impediment to justice.
How can a jury containing a guard deciding
a case against prison guards be considered impartial? Why was
the testimony of the remorseful prison guard not heard by the
jury? Why did Thornton's high-priced attorney (whom the Guard's
Union) feel it necessary to use the popular guard catch-phrase,
most cunningly disguised in a symbolic gesture that said louder
than words, "All Inmates Are Liars"? I'll tell you why: Because
that's all guards have ever needed to say to clear themselves
of their own perjuries and other 'improprieties' in Florida.
The presiding judge addressed both the court
and the jury prior to closing arguments and acknowledged that
he realized that just about everyone present was either related
to, was friends with, or saw each other at the local stores. Did
he honestly believe that conversations regarding the trial never
took place up to this point or even before the jury was selected?
Once the trial was staged in the guard's back yard, acquittals
were predictable.
I have letters from a number of prisoners
who speak of the horrors FSP errant guards, including Thornton
and Griffis, were inflicting even before the Valdes killing.
Here's a little background on "Big Red" Thornton,
one of the guards present at the murder, but somehow deemed legally
innocent by Florida justice. Shows the kind of people the DOC
employees and protects.
Prison captain twice arrested on the outside
http://www.sunone.com/news/articles/07-27-99e.shtml
snip- "During his 14 years as a corrections
officer, Thornton's use of force to restrain inmates more than
30 times was always deemed justified. His personnel file shows
the 6-foot, 230-pound guard has never faced disciplinary action.
But while working as a bouncer at Bobby's
Hideaway in Waldo in 1996, Thornton was arrested on a charge of
aggravated battery. Alachua County sheriff's deputies said he
tried to break up an argument between his brother and 24-year-old
Scott Petty. He allegedly took Petty outside and kept hitting
him.
Petty received two broken ribs, a broken
eye socket and a broken nose. The charge was dropped when Petty
decided not to press the matter.
In 1986, a year after Thornton became a prison
guard, Starke police charged him with burglary and battery. They
said he and a companion broke into a Starke motel and assaulted
another man. Thornton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery
charge and the burglary charged was dropped."
-end snip
Now Thornton and another three of the involved
guards (one from an earlier trial) are free men - because no one
in a position of power in Florida cared enough to win this case.
Families and prisoners and advocates are greatly and rightly worried
about the clear and foreboding message this court sent to the
prisoners and guards in Florida: If you want to kill, just make
sure you are wearing a DOC uniform and your prey is a prisoner!
Unfortunately, I guess no one has thought
of filing federal conspiracy and murder charges against the guards.
Because of dual jurisdiction, from what I understand, federal
law can apply (like with Terry Nichols) and 18 USC which makes
murder associated with torture a federal crime, This was torture
by any standard, and NO DOUBLE JEOPARDY attaches. Under federal
law, these guards can be tried away from a kangaroo court of relatives,
supporters and friends.
The threats and abuses continue in the prisons
throughout Florida, only now guards invoke the name 'Valdes' as
a mutually understood threat to frightened prisoners. Ever since
the Valdes murder, guards all over Florida have been using his
death to threaten prisoners with the same fate.
The lives of other prisoners are at great
risk: look for more prisoners kicking themselves in the face with
their own boots, breaking 22 ribs by themselves or 'committing
suicide' in a variety of unlikely ways.
All I can say is, SEND IN THE FEDS!
Visualizing responsibility in the DOC,
Kay Lee, MTWT
Pacific Institute of Criminal Justice
1868 San Juan Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-528-4603
kaylee1@charter.net or
kaylee@idiom.com
MAKING THE WALLS TRANSPARENT In Florida
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke
