Kathy
09-27-2003, 11:54 AM
Convicted killer denies rape of Corcoran inmate.
By Jerry Bier
The Fresno Bee
(Published Friday, September 26, 2003, 8:53 AM)
Convicted murderer Wayne Robertson, the so-called "Booty Bandit" who said he raped inmate Eddie Webb Dillard because Corcoran State Prison guards wantedto teach Dillard a lesson, stunned a federal courtroom Thursday by testifying he and Dillard made the whole thing up.
Robertson, after hours of testimony and denial that he even knew or remembered Dillard, said he never raped him and that the two of them had come up with a scheme to say Dillard had been sexually assaulted.
Four years ago, in a criminal prosecution of correctional officers, Robertson testified that he beat and repeatedly sodomized Dillard when the two men were placed together in a cell at Corcoran's security housing unit, or SHU, for three
days in March 1993.
It was not true, Robertson said from the witness stand Thursday in Dillard's federal civil lawsuit against the guards.
"Mr. Dillard asked me to help him and I said 'yes,' but at no time did I think he would take it to this extreme," the shackled, 6-foot-3, 220-pound Robertson said. Three black-vested state guards stood within feet of him.
Dillard filed a federal civil rights complaint against guards Robert Allan Decker, Joe Sanchez and Anthony Sylva, accusing them of putting him into Robertson's cell for three days to punish him because he had kicked a female guard at
another state prison.
He also named former medical assistant Kathy Horton-Plant, contending she orchestrated a cover-up by refusing to have him taken to a hospital after the alleged attacks by Robertson.
Under questioning by Dillard's lawyer, Robert L. Bastian, Robertson was evasive and couldn't remember any details, frequently saying he did not recall Dillard and asking to see him or a photo to try to recall him.
Dillard had asked not to be present when Robertson was on the witness stand and was not in the courtroom for any of his testimony.
"Name sounds familiar," said Robertson.
Robertson, referred to in prison slang as the "Booty Bandit" for his sexual assaults on inmates, was asked if he was angry about having to testify.
"Oh, yeah," he answered.
Most of Robertson's testimony Thursday was in stark contrast to that of the man who testified four years ago that he had sodomized Dillard over two days after Decker had told him that Dillard, who weighed 118 pounds, "needs to learn to do
his time."
The guards were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the criminal trial after being prosecuted by the state Attorney General's Office on charges of setting up Dillard's rape.
Robertson, bald except for a thin braided ponytail, wore a bright white prison jumpsuit and carried an envelope that he said contained his prison files.
He spent much of the time denying information about his violent prison past, contained in California Department of Corrections files, while being questioned by Bastian.
Robertson, serving a life term without parole for a point-blank killing during a robbery 24 years ago, said he didn't recall ever saying he raped Dillard.
When Bastian read statements from his testimony in the criminal trial and asked if that refreshed his recollection, Robertson responded, "No."
Then, while being questioned by attorney Mark H. Harris, who represents Sylva and Horton-Plant, Robertson was asked about a letter he reportedly wrote to Dillard Oct. 26, 1999, about a week after his criminal trial testimony.
The letter said in part: "You must take responsibility of your own actions. You're about to get 'paid,' but if the truth really comes out I don't think you would get one red cent."
While Robertson evaded most of the questions asked by Bastian, he readily answered questions about "Little E," identified as Dillard, when questioned by attorneys representing the correctional officers.
He was under no pressure to talk about the alleged scheme with Dillard, Robertson said, and he was not working for the California Department of Corrections.
"I don't give a [expletive] about these officers," he testified, asking everyone to pardon his language.
He said that at the time he and Dillard, whose case was one of those highlighted in the national media spotlight when Corcoran gained a reputation as the nation's most violent prison, were both angry at Decker, who was one of the sergeants in the SHU.
He said he told Dillard, "You help me and I'll help you."
But Dillard went to the extreme, Robertson said, going on the news show "60 Minutes" while he remained "locked up" in the SHU, described as a prison within a prison, "because of these unproven allegations."
Robertson has a history of violence and prison rapes dating to 1983, according to prison records.
Bastian said after jurors had left that Robertson's testimony was "absurd . . . he has never disclosed this scheme whatsoever."
The reporter can be reached at jbier@fresnobee.com or 441-6484.
By Jerry Bier
The Fresno Bee
(Published Friday, September 26, 2003, 8:53 AM)
Convicted murderer Wayne Robertson, the so-called "Booty Bandit" who said he raped inmate Eddie Webb Dillard because Corcoran State Prison guards wantedto teach Dillard a lesson, stunned a federal courtroom Thursday by testifying he and Dillard made the whole thing up.
Robertson, after hours of testimony and denial that he even knew or remembered Dillard, said he never raped him and that the two of them had come up with a scheme to say Dillard had been sexually assaulted.
Four years ago, in a criminal prosecution of correctional officers, Robertson testified that he beat and repeatedly sodomized Dillard when the two men were placed together in a cell at Corcoran's security housing unit, or SHU, for three
days in March 1993.
It was not true, Robertson said from the witness stand Thursday in Dillard's federal civil lawsuit against the guards.
"Mr. Dillard asked me to help him and I said 'yes,' but at no time did I think he would take it to this extreme," the shackled, 6-foot-3, 220-pound Robertson said. Three black-vested state guards stood within feet of him.
Dillard filed a federal civil rights complaint against guards Robert Allan Decker, Joe Sanchez and Anthony Sylva, accusing them of putting him into Robertson's cell for three days to punish him because he had kicked a female guard at
another state prison.
He also named former medical assistant Kathy Horton-Plant, contending she orchestrated a cover-up by refusing to have him taken to a hospital after the alleged attacks by Robertson.
Under questioning by Dillard's lawyer, Robert L. Bastian, Robertson was evasive and couldn't remember any details, frequently saying he did not recall Dillard and asking to see him or a photo to try to recall him.
Dillard had asked not to be present when Robertson was on the witness stand and was not in the courtroom for any of his testimony.
"Name sounds familiar," said Robertson.
Robertson, referred to in prison slang as the "Booty Bandit" for his sexual assaults on inmates, was asked if he was angry about having to testify.
"Oh, yeah," he answered.
Most of Robertson's testimony Thursday was in stark contrast to that of the man who testified four years ago that he had sodomized Dillard over two days after Decker had told him that Dillard, who weighed 118 pounds, "needs to learn to do
his time."
The guards were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the criminal trial after being prosecuted by the state Attorney General's Office on charges of setting up Dillard's rape.
Robertson, bald except for a thin braided ponytail, wore a bright white prison jumpsuit and carried an envelope that he said contained his prison files.
He spent much of the time denying information about his violent prison past, contained in California Department of Corrections files, while being questioned by Bastian.
Robertson, serving a life term without parole for a point-blank killing during a robbery 24 years ago, said he didn't recall ever saying he raped Dillard.
When Bastian read statements from his testimony in the criminal trial and asked if that refreshed his recollection, Robertson responded, "No."
Then, while being questioned by attorney Mark H. Harris, who represents Sylva and Horton-Plant, Robertson was asked about a letter he reportedly wrote to Dillard Oct. 26, 1999, about a week after his criminal trial testimony.
The letter said in part: "You must take responsibility of your own actions. You're about to get 'paid,' but if the truth really comes out I don't think you would get one red cent."
While Robertson evaded most of the questions asked by Bastian, he readily answered questions about "Little E," identified as Dillard, when questioned by attorneys representing the correctional officers.
He was under no pressure to talk about the alleged scheme with Dillard, Robertson said, and he was not working for the California Department of Corrections.
"I don't give a [expletive] about these officers," he testified, asking everyone to pardon his language.
He said that at the time he and Dillard, whose case was one of those highlighted in the national media spotlight when Corcoran gained a reputation as the nation's most violent prison, were both angry at Decker, who was one of the sergeants in the SHU.
He said he told Dillard, "You help me and I'll help you."
But Dillard went to the extreme, Robertson said, going on the news show "60 Minutes" while he remained "locked up" in the SHU, described as a prison within a prison, "because of these unproven allegations."
Robertson has a history of violence and prison rapes dating to 1983, according to prison records.
Bastian said after jurors had left that Robertson's testimony was "absurd . . . he has never disclosed this scheme whatsoever."
The reporter can be reached at jbier@fresnobee.com or 441-6484.