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05-18-2004, 07:22 AM
By Troy Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer
CAMDEN -Two videotapes played in federal court yesterday captured very different sides of an encounter between former Bayside State Prison inmate Frederick Walker and a special team of guards in 1997.
The first showed Walker, naked and shackled, being pulled down a flight of narrow metal and concrete stairs by a guard who had hooked a nightstick under Walker's arm. Then another guard puts his foot in Walker's groin and pushes. Walker screams and tumbles down the last few stairs.
The second tape, depicting the moments before Walker was removed from his cell, showed the 220-pound inmate, his body oiled to make it difficult for the guards to grasp him, wielding a large metal footlocker over his head and refusing to put it down despite the guards' demands.
The tapes were shot seven years ago at the Cumberland County medium-security prison, during a monthlong lockdown ordered after another inmate stabbed and killed a guard.
After the lockdown, hundreds of inmates began complaining of systematic abuse at the hands of the guards. Several internal, state and federal investigations, including one released in March, found no evidence of abuse or a cover-up.
Several hundred inmates filed civil suits stemming from the lockdown. Walker's case - perhaps the most dramatic due to the videotapes - became the first to reach trial yesterday in U.S. District Court here.
Justin T. Loughry, Walker's attorney, told the jury that no guard had ever been disciplined as a result of the Bayside lockdown.
"What's so amazing about this event is that it happened in 1997, and here we are in 2004," he said. "They did not want to hold themselves accountable. They left that until today. They left that up to you."
Judge Robert B. Kugler ordered the cases to be tried individually, allotting one week per case. Kugler asked each side to pick several cases it wished to try first. Plaintiffs' attorneys selected Walker's case - one they believe has a better chance for success - while the defense selected several of the weaker cases. Walker's trial could set the tone for the remaining plaintiffs, several of whom attended yesterday's trial.
Walker, a former Newark police officer who was serving a sentence for armed robbery in 1997, said he was "launched" down a second flight of stairs and beaten after the guard filming the transfer turned off the camera. Walker, 41, was released from prison in 2001, and he appeared in court yesterday in a dark suit.
In the March report, state investigators did not find any evidence that Walker had been beaten. The guard manning the camera said the battery died and he quickly replaced it. An analysis of the tape found that the camera had not been turned off, as Walker contended, but could not determine whether the battery had died. A nurse at the prison infirmary also examined Walker and did not find any evidence of abuse, the report said.
Loughry said the beating tore Walker's abdominal wall. The condition worsened over time until Walker's colon pushed through the tear and he had to undergo emergency surgery, Loughry said. Defense attorney Mark Roselli said Walker had been in a violent car accident years earlier, and said his expert would testify that the accident likely caused the injury.
After the July 1997 killing of prison guard Fred Baker, 55 members of the Special Operations Group - an elite team of prison guards - were called to Bayside to "sanitize" the prison of weapons, Roselli said.
Walker testified that all of the inmates on his cell block were ordered to march to the gymnasium with their heads down and sit there in a prone position for hours while the guards searched their cells. He said inmates were beaten if they looked up.
"If you were black or Hispanic, you weren't nothing," he said. "You got cursed at, you got beat down."
When he returned to his cell, Walker said, his space had been "trashed" and some property was missing. He said he banged on his door to get the attention of a guard to ask about his belongings. Instead, the Special Operations guards came to his cell.
Roselli said Walker was banging on his cell and creating a disturbance "for no apparent reason."
When the guards arrived, Walker was holding the footlocker over his head, they said. Roselli displayed a similar locker for the jury.
"Now, I'm 5 foot 8 on a good day. Mr. Walker's 6 foot 4. You see this in your face, what would you do?" he asked. "What did the officers do? They did what they're trained to do."
The officers ordered Walker to put down the footlocker and strip. When he refused, they Maced him until he complied.
Walker, testifying yesterday, acknowledged that he became combative after one of the officers arrived at his cell and told him, "Didn't we tell you that if we had to come back up here, we'd [beat] you up?"
Walker said that he had seen the officers turn a K-9 dog on another inmate and that he heard a dog barking outside his cell. He said he wrapped a sheet around his arm to ward off the animal.
Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com .
Inquirer Staff Writer
CAMDEN -Two videotapes played in federal court yesterday captured very different sides of an encounter between former Bayside State Prison inmate Frederick Walker and a special team of guards in 1997.
The first showed Walker, naked and shackled, being pulled down a flight of narrow metal and concrete stairs by a guard who had hooked a nightstick under Walker's arm. Then another guard puts his foot in Walker's groin and pushes. Walker screams and tumbles down the last few stairs.
The second tape, depicting the moments before Walker was removed from his cell, showed the 220-pound inmate, his body oiled to make it difficult for the guards to grasp him, wielding a large metal footlocker over his head and refusing to put it down despite the guards' demands.
The tapes were shot seven years ago at the Cumberland County medium-security prison, during a monthlong lockdown ordered after another inmate stabbed and killed a guard.
After the lockdown, hundreds of inmates began complaining of systematic abuse at the hands of the guards. Several internal, state and federal investigations, including one released in March, found no evidence of abuse or a cover-up.
Several hundred inmates filed civil suits stemming from the lockdown. Walker's case - perhaps the most dramatic due to the videotapes - became the first to reach trial yesterday in U.S. District Court here.
Justin T. Loughry, Walker's attorney, told the jury that no guard had ever been disciplined as a result of the Bayside lockdown.
"What's so amazing about this event is that it happened in 1997, and here we are in 2004," he said. "They did not want to hold themselves accountable. They left that until today. They left that up to you."
Judge Robert B. Kugler ordered the cases to be tried individually, allotting one week per case. Kugler asked each side to pick several cases it wished to try first. Plaintiffs' attorneys selected Walker's case - one they believe has a better chance for success - while the defense selected several of the weaker cases. Walker's trial could set the tone for the remaining plaintiffs, several of whom attended yesterday's trial.
Walker, a former Newark police officer who was serving a sentence for armed robbery in 1997, said he was "launched" down a second flight of stairs and beaten after the guard filming the transfer turned off the camera. Walker, 41, was released from prison in 2001, and he appeared in court yesterday in a dark suit.
In the March report, state investigators did not find any evidence that Walker had been beaten. The guard manning the camera said the battery died and he quickly replaced it. An analysis of the tape found that the camera had not been turned off, as Walker contended, but could not determine whether the battery had died. A nurse at the prison infirmary also examined Walker and did not find any evidence of abuse, the report said.
Loughry said the beating tore Walker's abdominal wall. The condition worsened over time until Walker's colon pushed through the tear and he had to undergo emergency surgery, Loughry said. Defense attorney Mark Roselli said Walker had been in a violent car accident years earlier, and said his expert would testify that the accident likely caused the injury.
After the July 1997 killing of prison guard Fred Baker, 55 members of the Special Operations Group - an elite team of prison guards - were called to Bayside to "sanitize" the prison of weapons, Roselli said.
Walker testified that all of the inmates on his cell block were ordered to march to the gymnasium with their heads down and sit there in a prone position for hours while the guards searched their cells. He said inmates were beaten if they looked up.
"If you were black or Hispanic, you weren't nothing," he said. "You got cursed at, you got beat down."
When he returned to his cell, Walker said, his space had been "trashed" and some property was missing. He said he banged on his door to get the attention of a guard to ask about his belongings. Instead, the Special Operations guards came to his cell.
Roselli said Walker was banging on his cell and creating a disturbance "for no apparent reason."
When the guards arrived, Walker was holding the footlocker over his head, they said. Roselli displayed a similar locker for the jury.
"Now, I'm 5 foot 8 on a good day. Mr. Walker's 6 foot 4. You see this in your face, what would you do?" he asked. "What did the officers do? They did what they're trained to do."
The officers ordered Walker to put down the footlocker and strip. When he refused, they Maced him until he complied.
Walker, testifying yesterday, acknowledged that he became combative after one of the officers arrived at his cell and told him, "Didn't we tell you that if we had to come back up here, we'd [beat] you up?"
Walker said that he had seen the officers turn a K-9 dog on another inmate and that he heard a dog barking outside his cell. He said he wrapped a sheet around his arm to ward off the animal.
Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com .