|
|
| NJ Plans Investigation Into Inmates' Assault Claims |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/02/2003 |
|
New Jersey's top prosecutor will open a criminal investigation into inmates' claims that officers brutalized them during a 1997 lockdown at Bayside State Prison. Acting Attorney General Peter C. Harvey said that his office will assemble a team of investigators to look into the matter. 'Given the allegations, we must carefully examine this matter,' Harvey told The New York Times. 'We will proceed with all deliberate speed.' The month-long lockdown began at the medium-security prison in Leesburg after a lone inmate fatally stabbed a officer in July 1997 using a metal spike fashioned from a mop handle. After the lockdown ended, more than 600 of the prison's 2,400 inmates claimed officers had beaten them in revenge. The NJ Department of Corrections concluded the allegations were baseless after conducting an extensive investigation. The attorney general's office closed its own more limited inquiry without filing charges. Harvey was appointed three years after the case was closed. 'Obviously, there will be some obstacles based upon the time lapse,' Harvey said. 'What I can say is we are going to collect as much objective evidence as we can and follow that evidence wherever it leads us.' New evidence has surfaced recently. Former officers have said they witnessed unprovoked beatings, and internal corrections department reports warning of abuse also have emerged. A lawsuit by inmates produced surveillance videotapes that show officers dragging one screaming inmate down a hall and tumbling a handcuffed inmate down a steel staircase. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think