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| Calif. ex-prison chief could face charges |
| By San Francisco Chronicle |
| Published: 01/16/2004 |
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A federally appointed investigator concluded Thursday that the former head of California's Department of Corrections and a top deputy thwarted an investigation into prison officer misconduct and is recommending that they face charges of criminal contempt -- charges that could lead to time behind bars. Edward Alameida, who resigned last month as director of prisons, and Thomas Moore, a former chief deputy, improperly quashed a perjury investigation of officers at Pelican Bay State Prison and then misled a federal inquiry of the case, according to John Hagar, a special master assigned to a federal judge who has ordered that conditions improve at the maximum security prison. A sweeping summary of corruption and cover-up among high-level administrators, Hagar's 71-page report depicts a department that has lost control of its efforts to police rogue correctional officers, in part because of the influence of the state's politically powerful prison officers union. The result, according to Hagar, is a systemic code of silence among officers wherein "good officers turn bad.'' Hagar is in charge of overseeing reforms mandated for Pelican Bay by a 1995 federal court ruling that found numerous civil rights violations at the prison. Nicknamed Skeleton Bay by inmates, the facility in Del Norte County has been roiled by allegations of prisoner beatings for nearly a decade. But the report released Thursday suggests major problems in Sacramento, where department administration has "turned its head'' when confronted with allegations of wrong-doing -- endangering honest officers and inmates, according to Hagar. Alameida and Moore are under fire for actions they took last year to end probes that were launched after a federal trial in which two Pelican Bay officers, Edward Powers and Jose Garcia, were convicted of beating inmates and setting up the stabbing of an inmate. Federal prosecutors turned over information to state corrections officials indicating that at least three officers lied under oath during the trial about their knowledge of Powers' and Garcia's behavior. Cases against the three officers were considered strong by some prison system and federal officials, but all three probes were shut down. Hagar has spent the last six months investigating why the cases were closed. Testimony by the prison department's internal affairs agents and lawyers suggest that Alameida ended the perjury probes in a meeting in his office, where one corrections employee contends that Alameida indicated he wanted to "make this (the cases) go away.'' The meeting in Alameida's office came just days after a telephone conversation with a vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The union, which is one of the largest contributors to political campaigns in the state, has often been accused of using its clout to interfere in department operations. The department will have the opportunity to respond to the allegations before Hagar sends a final report to U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson. Henderson will determine which, if any, charges to pursue. Alameida and Moore could face fines or time in prison. |
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