Judge to Decide on Inmate Testimony
January 14, 2002
A judge presiding over the trial of four Florida State Prison guards accused of murdering an inmate will decide today if prisoner testimony will be permitted. Prosecutors say that prisoners who were at the scene can offer crucial testimony regarding the guards' motive for the killing. The State claims that it is critical to establish why corrections officers beat and subsequently killed Frank Valdes in July 1999. Defense attorneys say that such inmate testimony is unreliable.
Prisoners claim that in the summer of 1999 several prison guards began to systematically beat inmates in retaliation for a miscarriage a female corrections officer suffered after an earlier confrontation with a prisoner. Valdes was reportedly upset by the alleged abuse and threatened to notify the press. According to inmates and prosecutors, guards murdered Valdes to prevent media exposure.
Valdes, 36, was found dead inside of his solitary confinement cell. An autopsy revealed several broken ribs. Numerous boot marks were also noticeable on his body. Prison guards insist that Valdes' fatal wounds were self-inflicted.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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