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| Prison Officials Exonerated in Deaths |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/18/2002 |
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The inmate-classification system in South Dakota state prisons meets national standards, and prison officials cannot be blamed for the apparent murders of two inmates last summer, according to a report released recently. The report, presented to the state Corrections Commission, says proper procedures are used in ranking inmates by the risk they pose. Inmates are classified as either maximum, high-medium, low-medium or minimum security, based on their history, personalities and behaviors. Based on an internal review and scrutiny by outside experts, the report concludes that there was no way for prison officials to predict the deaths of inmates Steven Heckel, 39, and Andrew Young, 23. 'Appropriate policies were in place at the Penitentiary to classify and house inmates in such a manner as to minimize the risk of assaults,' the report stated. 'In both of these cases, the penitentiary staff followed the policies.' The cellmates of Heckel and Young have been charged in their deaths. 'There were no warning signs,' the report said. 'There was no way for the staff to perceive that either of these assaults would happen.' Inmates Christopher Fonseca, 30, and Christopher E. Hill, 26, face alternate charges of first- and second-degree murder. Their trials have been set for Dec. 30. In April, Fonseca and his then-cellmate, Charles L. 'Chuck' Mann, 22, were sentenced to an additional 20 years for mailing threatening letters containing a white powder to a federal court clerk in Sioux Falls and to the Dawes County Clerk's office in Chadron, Neb., where Fonseca also had been arrested on a bad check charge. The letter claimed that the powder was laced with anthrax. Tests later proved the powder to be free of anthrax. Hill, who had an extensive disciplinary record, is accused of assaulting Heckel on Aug. 3 in a disciplinary segregation cell; Heckel died two days later in a hospital. All four of the inmates were classified as maximum security with aggressive personalities but had been getting along before the deaths, the report said. Consultants who reviewed prison standards and operations said the inmate-classification system is in substantial compliance with American Correctional Association standards. The consultants also said the deaths of Young and Heckel seemed unavoidable. |
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