Two jail guards convicted in beatings!

[Cd.]

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...0442/1017/NEWS

In spite of everything that has gone bad in recent times, we finally have an occasion to cheer! My only advice to these two is "watch out for the cornhole bud! (quoting from office space)



Two former guards accused of beating prisoners at the Wilson County Jail became
inmates themselves yesterday after a federal jury convicted them of violating
prisoners' civil rights.

A third former guard was acquitted of all charges.


One of the defendants almost went free pending sentencing, until he pounded his
fist into a conference room wall in anger — prompting the judge to lock him up
for destroying federal property.


Federal prosecutors said the three were part of a sadistic band of guards who
kneed, kicked, slapped and punched prisoners, sometimes to get them to be quiet
or cooperate and other times in revenge for trouble they caused.

One of those inmates, Walter S. Kuntz, died.

After a day and a half of deliberating, the jury found Patrick Marlowe guilty of
seven of eight counts of civil rights violations, including causing Kuntz's
death.

Throughout the three-week trial, Marlowe, the supervisor on the second shift,
was depicted as the ringleader who enforced his own brand of justice at the
jail. Former guards who had pleaded guilty to beating inmates told jurors
Marlowe liked to incite prisoners to fight with them so he could add them to
his knockout list — the running tab of inmates he'd beaten unconscious — and
then brag about it.

The brutality at the jail lasted for more than 18 months, but it was the
inmate's death that began an investigation that would reveal what was happening
on the second shift.

Kuntz, 43, known to family and friends as Steve, was booked into the Wilson
County Jail on Jan. 12, 2003, on charges of drunken driving, driving on a
revoked license and leaving the scene of the accident. He was pronounced
brain-dead eight hours after being booked.

Kuntz's family members were grateful Marlowe was convicted but disappointed at
the outcome for the other defendants.

"It's not going to bring my brother back, of course, but it's somewhat of a
victory for my family," said his sister, Tonya Thompson, of Carthage, Tenn.

During the trial, former guard Gary Hale testified that he and Marlowe took
turns beating Kuntz.

State Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Levy testified that the inmate's head injuries
were so severe it looked like he had fallen from a multi-story building or had
hit his head against the pavement after being thrown from a car.

Kuntz also had three broken ribs and an injury to his scrotum. Both injuries
would have been excruciating, doctors testified.

Yesterday's verdicts were described as "bittersweet" by federal prosecutors who
took on the case against former officers sworn to uphold the law.

"It's really a sad day in law enforcement," said Jim Vines, the U.S. attorney
for Middle Tennessee. "It's a great day for the American justice system."

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Cohen prosecuted the case, along with two
lawyers from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Gerard Hogan and
Stephen Curran.

Former jailer Tommy Shane Conatser was accused of beating two inmates and of
conspiracy. The jury convicted Conatser only of conspiring to violate the
rights of the inmates, acquitting him of the two beatings.

Robert Locke, accused in the conspiracy and of beating one inmate, was acquitted
of all charges.

Locke's attorney, Nashville lawyer Ed Yarbrough, said he had been worried that
jurors who had listened to detailed testimony about Kuntz's death and other
beatings might not be able to distinguish his client from the others.

"An autopsy picture of a man's brain being shown to the jury — yes, I was very
worried about that," Yarbrough said. "Mr. Locke is obviously pleased with the
jury's verdict, especially in light of the verdict in the other cases …"

Yarbrough told the jury that his client had worked the second shift for less
than three weeks when he was accused of violating the inmate's rights — too
early for others to bring him in on a conspiracy.

He also argued that the only evidence against Locke came two weeks before the
trial, when other former jailers pleaded guilty.

Conatser, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was allowed to leave, but his
freedom was short-lived.

U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell told him he could remain free until sentencing
but would be subject to the conditions of his bond. After leaving the courtroom,
Conatser punched a wall in an attorney conference room in the federal building.
He was escorted back to court, where Campbell revoked his bond because of
destruction of government property, and U.S. marshals took him into custody.

[86Dude]

Cops suck, what more can we say?

[Cd.]

Originally Posted by 86Dude

Cops suck, what more can we say?

He he he....

Well for me this is almost a vindication. I have seen so many times in which guards beat the crap out of people and get off with little more than a slap on the wrist.

This time a guard actually killed someone. But this time he will be held accountable. Granted, 10 years is a light sentence for murder but its better than nothing.

Incidently, that stuff about the Cornhole is baloney. When a guard is in jail he or she is protected by fellow corrections officers. Its not the same kind of time you or I would get for the same offence.

[Janus]

Originally Posted by Criminal

Incidently, that stuff about the Cornhole is baloney. When a guard is in jail he or she is protected by fellow corrections officers. Its not the same kind of time you or I would get for the same offence.

I bet you would enjoy your cornholing. And you would defend the criminal right to cornhole you.

[Cd.]

Originally Posted by Janus

I bet you would enjoy your cornholing. And you would defend the criminal right to cornhole you.

Hey, when the criminals wear a uniform they can cornhole anyone they want to. Just like those cops in NYC who forced a plunger handle up the ass of some Haitan immigrant. Ha ha ha... real funny guys.