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| Officer Pleads No Contest to Assault |
| By Bakersfield Californian |
| Published: 01/02/2003 |
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Fired sheriff's Detention Officer William W. Purdie pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor charge of assault on an inmate under color of authority for the videotaped slugging and kicking of a shackled inmate. Purdie, 30, entered the plea through his lawyer and was not in the courtroom for the plea. He was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to do 80 hours of community service and pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the Kern County Probation Department. A second charge of battery was dismissed. A no jail plea was offered by prosecutors because it would be difficult to place Purdie in custody with the inmates he used to oversee, and the community service and pending lawsuits are expected to provide further justice in the case, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Sparks has said. A defendant in a misdemeanor case can waive his right to be in the courtroom during any hearing or pleas. Purdie talked to his attorney in a public break room before the plea, but did not go into the courtroom. Purdie has also been fired, but he has appealed the firing and a County Civil Service Commission hearing is set Jan. 13 to consider the appeal. The plea ends the criminal case that stemmed from the June 9 beating of Matthew Robert Ramos, 25, who was subsequently diagnosed with a bipolar mental disorder. Bipolar, also known as manic depressive disorder, is characterized by alternating swings between depression and excitability or delusions, according to the Merck medical dictionary. The incident was videotaped by sheriff's authorities who intended to use the videotape as a training tool. Last week attorney Daniel Rodriguez of Bakersfield filed claims against Purdie, other unnamed sheriff's employees, the Sheriff's Department, Kern Medical Center and Kern County Mental Health as a prelude to filing a lawsuit in federal court. Sheriff's and district attorney's officials have refused to make the videotape publically available. If the case had gone to trial and the tape had been shown, it would have become a public document. The news media was allowed to see the tape for the first time last week -- but by the civil attorney for the man beaten by Purdie. The lawyer also denied requests for copies of it. The videotape shows eight deputies escorting Ramos to a seat outside the infirmary in the Lerdo Jail. Ramos, who a short time earlier struggled with officers at the downtown jail, was compliant until Purdie approached him with scissors to cut off a plastic wristband. Ramos, whose arms were being held by deputies, jumped up from his chair and struggled with officers. On orders, an officer fired four or five pepper balls at the upper body of Ramos, who appeared to be unaffected. That's when Purdie slugged Ramos on the side of the head. Ramos was taken to the ground and Purdie kneeled on his neck, a procedure that is not authorized, Rodriguez said. Officers turned over Ramos' body and dragged him to a cell, but as they were dragging him, Purdie came up to Ramos and kicked him in the top of the head. Once in the cell, Purdie again kneeled on the neck of Ramos and hit him again. Purdie's defense attorney, Robert F. Carbone , declined to comment. |
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