Inmate found guilty of assault
A Butte County jury found an inmate guilty of assaulting another Butte County Jail inmate following a three- day trial that concluded on Friday, Feb. 26.
Cornelius McCauley, 28, of Chico, was accused of attacking an inmate in August 2020 that resulted in the inmate suffering a fractured skull and repeated loss of consciousness. The attack led to the inmate being transported from the jail to Oroville Hospital, where he was treated and recovered from his injuries.
On Friday, McCauley was found guilty of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, in addition to a special enhancement for great bodily injury, according to a press release from the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.
During the three- day trial, prosecutors presented evidence to the jury including a jail surveillance video and testimony from a tower guard who witnessed the attack. According to the DA’s office, the video showed McCauley “square off” in front of the other inmate, a 49-year-old Oroville man in jail for a parole violation, before suddenly attacking the inmate and repeatedly striking his head. A motive for the attack was never established, according to the DA’s office.
McCauley was being held in the jail, pending sentencing, for a number of car burglaries in the Chico area between July 2019 and February 2020. McCauley now faces up to 16 years in state prison at his pending sentencing hearing, scheduled for April 7. The pending sentencing includes an enhancement for a strike offense for a 2014 robbery in Sacramento.
The Butte County Jail has seen an increase in inmate attacks of late, said District Attorney Mike Ramsey, citing to recent reforms under Assembly Bill 109 and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both of those factors have contributed to jail overcrowding by limiting the transport of inmates who would otherwise serve time in state prison, Ramsey said.