The killing blow. Murder associated with torture. Deaths in custody. Kay Lee on brutality.

The killing blow. Murder associated with torture. Deaths in custody. Kay Lee on brutality.

Some quotes follow from the February 18 2002 Kay Lee message farther down:

"The finding of innocence was supposedly based on the premise that, since
nine officers were involved, the court had to determine the one 'killing
blow' and who struck it - or all would go free."

"Frank Valdes was pulled from his cell at the Florida State Prison at Starke
in July 1999 dead, with 22 broken ribs and fractures of his sternum,
vertebrae, nose and jaw, along with numerous internal injuries. There were
boot prints on his face, neck, abdomen and back. Nine guards were
originally charged in the crime."

"Unfortunately, I guess no one has thought of filing federal conspiracy and
murder charges against the guards. Because of dual jurisdiction, from what
I understand, federal law can apply (like with Terry Nichols) and 18 USC
which makes murder associated with torture a federal crime, This was
torture by any standard, and NO DOUBLE JEOPARDY attaches. Under federal
law, these guards can be tried away from a kangaroo court of relatives,
supporters and friends."

"This was a case that should have been easy to win - and might have been
won - if the trial had been moved completely out of the North Florida area
(aka 'Redneck Riviera') with its proliferation of small prison towns."

----------------------------

Kay Lee sent the following message to Drug War News, among other places. The message is archived here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drugwarnews/message/807

------------------------

To: "US Dept of Justice" <AskDOJ [at] usdoj.gov>
From: "Kay Lee" <kaylee [at] idiom.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 21:42:32 -0800
Subject: DW. A GUARD WHO HAS NEVER OWNED HIS CRIMES


A GUARD WHO HAS NEVER OWNED HIS CRIMES
I swear under penalty of perjury, that the following is,
to the best of my knowledge and belief, absolutely true.
Kay Lee

I am so frustrated by numerous identically fruitless attempts to stop guard
violence, especially in Florida,
but of course I, like many others, will continue to seek justice.

A federal case should be made out of the latest travesty. The recent
acquittal of Timothy "Big Red" Thornton
and two other guards involved in the murder of Prisoner of Florida, Frank
Valdes, has angered a lot of people across the nation.

Frank Valdes was pulled from his cell at the Florida State Prison at Starke
in July 1999 dead, with 22 broken ribs and fractures of his sternum,
vertebrae, nose and jaw, along with numerous internal injuries. There were
boot prints on his face, neck, abdomen and back. Nine guards were
originally charged in the crime. At first they claimed Valdes 'did it to
himself', but by the time they reached court over two years later, they
'might have broken his ribs trying to revive him'.

This was a case that should have been easy to win - and might have been
won - if the trial had been moved completely out of the North Florida area
(aka "Redneck Riviera") with its proliferation of small prison towns.

The finding of innocence was supposedly based on the premise that, since
nine officers were involved, the court had to determine the one 'killing
blow' and who struck it - or all would go free. How in the world are we to
ever know which was 'the killing blow' and who delivered it? Does the
medical examiner know? Do the guards even know? Of course not, but somehow
this detail becomes our impediment to justice.

How can a jury containing a guard deciding a case against prison guards be
considered impartial? Why was the testimony of the remorseful prison guard
not heard by the jury? Why did Thornton's high-priced attorney (whom the
Guard's Union) feel it necessary to use the popular guard catch-phrase, most
cunningly disguised in a symbolic gesture that said louder than words, "All
Inmates Are Liars"? I'll tell you why: Because that's all guards have ever
needed to say to clear themselves of their own perjuries and other
'improprieties'
in Florida.

The presiding judge addressed both the court and the jury prior to closing
arguments and acknowledged that he realized that just about everyone present
was either related to, was friends with, or saw each other at the local
stores. Did he honestly believe that conversations regarding the trial
never took place up to this point or even before the jury was selected?
Once the trial was staged in the guard's back yard, acquittals were
predictable.

I have letters from a number of prisoners who speak of the horrors FSP
errant guards, including Thornton and Griffis, were inflicting even before
the Valdes killing.

Here's a little background on "Big Red" Thornton, one of the guards present
at the murder, but somehow deemed legally innocent by Florida justice.
Shows the kind of people the DOC employees and protects.

Prison captain twice arrested on the outside
http://www.sunone.com/news/articles/07-27-99e.shtml

"During his 14 years as a corrections officer, Thornton's use of force to
restrain inmates more than 30 times was always deemed justified. His
personnel file shows the 6-foot, 230-pound guard has never faced
disciplinary action.

But while working as a bouncer at Bobby's Hideaway in Waldo in 1996,
Thornton was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery. Alachua County
sheriff's deputies said he tried to break up an argument between his brother
and 24-year-old Scott Petty. He allegedly took Petty outside and kept
hitting him.

Petty received two broken ribs, a broken eye socket and a broken nose. The
charge was dropped when Petty decided not to press the matter.

In 1986, a year after Thornton became a prison guard, Starke police charged
him with burglary and battery. They said he and a companion broke into a
Starke motel and assaulted another man. Thornton pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor battery charge and the burglary charged was dropped."

Now Thornton and another three of the involved guards (one from an earlier
trial) are free men - because no one in a position of power in Florida cared
enough to win this case. Families and prisoners and advocates are greatly
and rightly worried about the clear and foreboding message this court sent
to the prisoners and guards in Florida: If you want to kill, just make sure
you are wearing a DOC uniform and your prey is a prisoner!

Unfortunately, I guess no one has thought of filing federal conspiracy and
murder charges against the guards. Because of dual jurisdiction, from what
I understand, federal law can apply (like with Terry Nichols) and 18 USC
which makes murder associated with torture a federal crime, This was
torture by any standard, and NO DOUBLE JEOPARDY attaches. Under federal
law, these guards can be tried away from a kangaroo court of relatives,
supporters and friends.

The threats and abuses continue in the prisons throughout Florida, only now
guards invoke the name 'Valdes'
as a mutually understood threat to frightened prisoners. Ever since the
Valdes murder, guards all over Florida have been using his death to threaten
prisoners with the same fate.

The lives of other prisoners are at great risk: look for more prisoners
kicking themselves in the face with their own boots, breaking 22 ribs by
themselves or 'committing suicide' in a variety of unlikely ways.

All I can say is, SEND IN THE FEDS!

Visualizing responsibility in the DOC,
Kay Lee, MTWT
Pacific Institute of Criminal Justice
1868 San Juan Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-528-4603
kaylee1 [at] charter.net or kaylee [at] idiom.com
MAKING THE WALLS TRANSPARENT In Florida
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke

--- end of Kay Lee email ----

-------------------------------------------


*TOTAL INMATES. Yearend 2000. USA and Territories. Jail, prison, INS, juvenile, Indians, military, etc..
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/usaterr.htm and
http://corporatism.tripod.com/usaterr.htm

[pre][code]
<font face=Courier New>
>_____________________________________________
>ALL_inmates._End_of_2000.____________________
>USA_and_territories._________________________
>_____________________________________________
>State_and_federal_prisons.__________1,312,354
>Local_jails.__________________________621,149
>Juvenile_facilities.__________________108,965
>Territorial_prisons.___________________16,130
>INS_facilities._________________________8,894
>Military_facilities.____________________2,420
>Indian_country_jails.___________________1,775
>_____________________________________________
>TOTAL_______________________________2,071,687
>_____________________________________________
>INS=Immigration_and_Naturalization_Service___
>234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
>Fixed_width_Courier_font_lines_up_columns.___
>_________________________</font>[/code][/pre]
> http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/press/p00pr.htm and
> http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/usaterr.htm ___
> Number in juvenile facilities is as of October 1999.
U.S. Territories and Commonwealths are American
Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands.

---------------------------------------------



*In the USA 6.5 million people were on probation, on parole, in prison, or in jail at yearend 2000. That's 1 in 32 adults, or 3.1% of the nation's total adult population. End of chart has TEXAS percentage.
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/correct.htm and
http://corporatism.tripod.com/correct.htm

[pre][code]
<font face=Courier New>
>__________________________________________________
>Persons_under_U.S._correctional_supervision.______
>3.1_percent_of_all_U.S._adult_residents_in_2000.__
>Yearly_totals_are_rounded_off_to_nearest_hundred._
>Prisoners_are_in_state_and_federal_prisons._______
>__________________________________________________
>_____Jail______Prison__Parole__Probation___Total__
>__________________________________________________
>1975___________________143,164____________________
>1976___________________147,539____________________
>1977___________285,486_173,632___816,525__________
>1978_158,394___294,396_177,847___899,305_1,529,900
>1979___________301,470_217,697_1,080,385__________
>1980_183,988___319,598_220,438_1,118,097_1,842,100
>1981_196,785___360,029_225,539_1,225,934_2,008,300
>1982_209,582___402,914_224,604_1,357,264_2,194,400
>1983_223,551___423,898_246,440_1,582,947_2,476,800
>1984_234,500___448,264_266,992_1,740,948_2,690,700
>1985_254,986___487,593_300,203_1,968,712_3,013,100
>1986_272,736___526,436_325,638_2,114,621_3,241,100
>1987_294,092___562,814_355,505_2,247,158_3,461,400
>1988_341,893___607,766_407,977_2,356,483_3,715,800
>1989_393,303___683,367_456,803_2,522,125_4,057,800
>1990_403,019___743,382_531,407_2,670,234_4,350,300
>1991_424,129___792,535_590,442_2,728,472_4,537,900
>1992_441,781___850,566_658,601_2,811,611_4,765,400
>1993_455,500___909,381_676,100_2,903,061_4,948,300
>1994_479,800___990,147_690,371_2,981,022_5,148,000
>1995_499,300_1,078,542_679,421_3,077,861_5,342,900
>1996_510,400_1,127,528_679,733_3,164,996_5,490,700
>1997_557,974_1,176,564_694,787_3,296,513_5,734,900
>1998_584,372_1,224,469_696,385_3,670,441_6,134,200
>1999_596,485_1,287,172_714,487_3,779,922_6,340,800
>2000_621,149_1,312,354_725,527_3,839,532_6,467,200
>__________________________________________________
>_____Jail_____Prison___Parole__Probation__Total___
>23456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
>Fixed_width_Courier_font_lines_up_columns.________
>______________________________</font>[/code][/pre]
> http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/correct.htm and
> http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/corr2tab.htm and
> http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus00.pdf ___
> Use the free Adobe Acrobat reader for pdf files. From the pdf
file just above: "The states with the largest percentages of
their ADULT POPULATIONS UNDER
CORRECTIONAL SUPERVISION
were Georgia (6.8 percent), TEXAS (5.0 percent)
and Idaho (4.9 percent)."

-----------------------------------------------------------