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| No charges in videotaped beating case |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 04/26/2004 |
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California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer on Friday announced that he would not pursue criminal charges against six correctional counselors who were participants or witnesses in the videotaped beating of two inmates at a Stockton youth prison. After reviewing the case, Lockyer said there was insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute the officers and that the San Joaquin County district attorney did not abuse his discretion in reaching a similar conclusion. "This office will not be taking any further action in the matter at this time," Lockyer said in a letter to the California Youth Authority, which operates the prison and oversees about 4,000 offenders statewide. The violent and graphic videotape of the Jan. 20 incident made waves throughout the state's corrections system and the state Capitol. After the local district attorney declined to prosecute the officers, the Youth Authority asked Lockyer to review the decision. Outraged lawmakers called for action, and state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) showcased the dramatic video at a news conference. Romero, who has led legislative efforts to reform the Youth Authority, called Lockyer's decision a "major disappointment," and said she believed the attorney general had decided to "walk away from a hot potato." In separate interviews, Romero and a top corrections official said they might ask the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento to evaluate the case for possible prosecution of civil rights violations. The beating occurred at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton. CYA officials said two correctional counselors were talking with two young inmates, Narcisco Morales and Vincent Baker, in a small office when one of the inmates allegedly punched one of the counselors. The ensuing scuffle spilled into a lounge that was equipped with a security camera. The videotape showed the counselors wrestling the inmates to the floor, where one sat astride Morales and punched him more than two dozen times in the head. A second counselor drove his knee into Baker's neck several times, and appeared to kick the inmate in the face after he had been handcuffed. The tape also showed that another staff member sprayed the inmates with a chemical agent as they lay face down, while another fired rounds from a gun that shoots balls of pepper spray. |
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