Goody's Girl
05-16-2002, 07:37 PM
Former Pelican Bay guards convicted
Pair had inmates beaten, stabbed
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, May 16,
2002
Two former guards at Pelican Bay State Prison were
convicted by a federal court jury Wednesday of
conspiring to arrange beatings and stabbings of
inmates. Michael Powers, 56, and Jose Garcia, 46, were
found guilty of a conspiracy to violate the civil
rights of as many as eight prisoners between July 1992
and August 1996. One of the inmates, Watson White, was
stabbed to death in August 1992 by a prisoner
allegedly solicited by Powers, according to the
indictment. The conviction carries a maximum sentence
of 10 years in prison. Defense lawyers plan to appeal.
Garcia, who has already served a state prison term on
related charges, was acquitted Wednesday of a separate
charge of assaulting two inmates by shooting rubber
bullets at them. Prosecutors said the guards targeted
convicted child molesters and rapists, as well as
prisoners who would not cooperate with them, and
offered other inmates alcohol and other privileges to
attack them. The prosecution case depended heavily on
testimony from inmates about the guards' alleged
involvement. Defense lawyers attacked their
credibility and noted that some were getting breaks in
their sentences. "Evidently the jury decided to accept
the word of the inmates," Powers' attorney, Wayne
Ordos, said after the verdict.
He said he was
surprised by the convictions because "I felt that we
had a resounding defense." Pelican Bay, in a remote
corner of Del Norte County, houses some of the state's
most violent prisoners. The conduct of its guards has
come under court scrutiny in several cases. One guard,
David Gene Lewis, was convicted in federal court in
2000 of violating the civil rights of a prisoner by
shooting and wounding him in the mistaken belief that
he was a child molester. Earlier, in a class-action
suit by Pelican Bay inmates, U.S. District Judge
Thelton Henderson found a pattern of brutality by
guards and ordered changes in conditions and
operations at the prison. Garcia was convicted of
conspiracy to assault Pelican Bay inmates in Del Norte
County in 1998 and was sentenced to 4 years and 8
months in prison, a term he has completed, with time
off for good behavior. His attorney in that case was
Robert Noel, now awaiting sentencing on a manslaughter
conviction for a fatal San Francisco dog mauling last
year; Noel's wife, Marjorie Knoller, was convicted of
second-degree murder.
Garcia's current attorneys
argued that Noel had represented the guard
incompetently by failing to object to evidence of
statements Garcia made to state investigators during a
disciplinary probe. U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins
agreed and excluded some of the statements from the
federal trial, but he refused to dismiss the case.
Pair had inmates beaten, stabbed
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, May 16,
2002
Two former guards at Pelican Bay State Prison were
convicted by a federal court jury Wednesday of
conspiring to arrange beatings and stabbings of
inmates. Michael Powers, 56, and Jose Garcia, 46, were
found guilty of a conspiracy to violate the civil
rights of as many as eight prisoners between July 1992
and August 1996. One of the inmates, Watson White, was
stabbed to death in August 1992 by a prisoner
allegedly solicited by Powers, according to the
indictment. The conviction carries a maximum sentence
of 10 years in prison. Defense lawyers plan to appeal.
Garcia, who has already served a state prison term on
related charges, was acquitted Wednesday of a separate
charge of assaulting two inmates by shooting rubber
bullets at them. Prosecutors said the guards targeted
convicted child molesters and rapists, as well as
prisoners who would not cooperate with them, and
offered other inmates alcohol and other privileges to
attack them. The prosecution case depended heavily on
testimony from inmates about the guards' alleged
involvement. Defense lawyers attacked their
credibility and noted that some were getting breaks in
their sentences. "Evidently the jury decided to accept
the word of the inmates," Powers' attorney, Wayne
Ordos, said after the verdict.
He said he was
surprised by the convictions because "I felt that we
had a resounding defense." Pelican Bay, in a remote
corner of Del Norte County, houses some of the state's
most violent prisoners. The conduct of its guards has
come under court scrutiny in several cases. One guard,
David Gene Lewis, was convicted in federal court in
2000 of violating the civil rights of a prisoner by
shooting and wounding him in the mistaken belief that
he was a child molester. Earlier, in a class-action
suit by Pelican Bay inmates, U.S. District Judge
Thelton Henderson found a pattern of brutality by
guards and ordered changes in conditions and
operations at the prison. Garcia was convicted of
conspiracy to assault Pelican Bay inmates in Del Norte
County in 1998 and was sentenced to 4 years and 8
months in prison, a term he has completed, with time
off for good behavior. His attorney in that case was
Robert Noel, now awaiting sentencing on a manslaughter
conviction for a fatal San Francisco dog mauling last
year; Noel's wife, Marjorie Knoller, was convicted of
second-degree murder.
Garcia's current attorneys
argued that Noel had represented the guard
incompetently by failing to object to evidence of
statements Garcia made to state investigators during a
disciplinary probe. U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins
agreed and excluded some of the statements from the
federal trial, but he refused to dismiss the case.