Prison guards ask for separate trials
6 officers accused of beating inmates
NORRISTOWN » Two of the six Montgomery County correctional officers accused of taking part in the Valentine’s Day beatings of two inmates are seeking to have separate trials from the others.
Anthony Saxby, 31, of Upper Gwynedd, and Randall Sims, 40, of Norristown, filed court papers claiming they “will be prejudiced” if they stand trial with their onetime colleagues who are also facing assault-related charges.
“Mr. Saxby is not involved in two of the three incidents that are the subject matter of this litigation. In those two incidents, Mr. Saxby’s co-defendants allegedly beat two prisoners housed at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, where all defendants worked,” Saxby’s defense lawyer Alfred J. Merlie wrote in court papers. “Should he be tried with his co-defendants, it will be virtually impossible for the jury
to judge him fairly in light of the alleged actions of the co-defendants.”
Defense lawyer Nino V. Tinari filed a similar request on behalf of Sims.
“The evidence may tend to convict Randall Sims merely because the jury would be incapable of separating the evidence or could not avoid cumulating the evidence,” Tinari wrote in court papers.
Judge William R. Carpenter is expected to hold a hearing on the requests in the next several weeks. All six men charged in connection with the incidents face pretrial hearings on Sept. 25.
First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. and co-prosecutor Kelly Lloyd previously filed court papers to join all the cases at a single trial. Prosecutors will have the chance to address the requests to sever the cases made by Saxby and Sims when the judge holds a hearing on the matter.
The six former correctional officers each face charges of aggravated and simple assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, hindering apprehension or prosecution, official oppression, and obstructing administration of law.
The other four charged include: Darrin Collins, 52, a former lieutenant at the jail, of Phoenixville, Chester County; Alfred Gregory Jr., 32, of East Coventry, Chester County; Jason Marshall, 40, of Zionsville, Lehigh County; and Edwin Negron, 53, a former captain at the jail, of Exton, Chester County.
If convicted of all the charges at trial, each of the men faces a possible maximum sentence of 35 to 70 years in prison. Each of the men remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail while awaiting trial.
The investigation began when Assistant Warden Mark Murray was informed verbally by correctional officers that they used physical force on an inmate on Feb. 14. That required the submission of incident reports as well as obtaining jailhouse video surveillance footage that was available, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said previously that Murray’s initial internal review found that some officers may have used excessive force on two prisoners, may have lied about their involvement and took steps to minimize or destroy available surveillance footage.
On Feb. 17, jailhouse officials referred the matter to county detectives, who launched an immediate investigation.
Steele said the county’s investigative grand jury was utilized during the review. The grand jury issued a presentment indicting the six correctional officers.
All six correctional officers were placed on administrative leave immediately after the alleged incident was reported and subsequently were fired following the jail’s internal investigation.
The grand jury investigation revealed that on Feb. 14 the six correctional officers were involved with assaulting inmates Derrick Houlihan, 42, of Philadelphia, who wears a prosthetic left leg, and 18-year-old Matthew Ruffings, of Norristown, in two high security areas of the jail.
Prosecutors alleged Houlihan was initially assaulted in his cell, taken for medical treatment, and then assaulted again in a day room area or community area of the K-6 section of the prison. Video surveillance shows that Houlihan did not fight back.
According to court documents, Houlihan was not wearing his prosthetic leg at the time of the alleged second beating.
Court papers indicate Houlihan suffered a laceration over his eye during the first alleged assault. Houlihan suffered two broken ribs as well as cuts and abrasions to his arms and his leg during the second alleged assault.
Negron initially claimed to jail officials that Houlihan had been giving staff “problems” and had “acted up” and that force had to be used to return him to his cell. Neither Negron nor Collins fully disclosed the extent of force, according to the grand jury presentment.
Court papers indicate correctional officers may not have been aware that a new camera had been installed in the K-6 section and that it had been actively recording at the time of the assault of Houlihan. When Murray reviewed the video footage he concluded that what he viewed did not match what correctional officers documented in their incident reports, according to court papers.
For example, Murray never saw Houlihan throw a punch or deliver a kick, as was detailed in the officers’ reports, according to the grand jury presentment.
In the video footage of the second alleged assault Houlihan is seen “hopping on his one natural leg as he entered K-6 under escort by Saxby and Sims, according to court papers. Houlihan went to the floor face-down and there was no evidence on the video he was assaultive or otherwise combative at that point, the grand jury presentment revealed.
Later, Saxby, Sims and Gregory are observed punching and kicking Houlihan as he flailed on the floor in an apparent attempt to protect himself, authorities alleged. Several of the accused allegedly then “combined efforts to unleash a series of kicks, punches, and stomps onto various parts of Houlihan’s body, including his torso and chest,” according to court papers.
Gregory allegedly also taunted Houlihan as he was on the ground in a helpless position. Gregory is observed kicking Houlihan’s prosthetic leg into a day room and Houlihan was “inexplicably denied the use of his prosthetic leg for approximately 12 hours,” according to the indictment.
Although three correctional officers wore body cameras during parts of the alleged incidents, no footage was turned over to jail officials, court papers indicate.
Later that morning, Ruffings was assaulted in his cell with punches to his face by several officers. Additionally, three officers who were wearing body cameras during the incident did not activate them or took actions to destroy the video that was captured, prosecutors alleged.
Ruffings suffered a broken nose and bruising to his face as a result of the alleged beating, the grand jury presentment indicated.