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Florida Guards Murder Another Prisoner, Get Another Acquittal
Loaded on Aug. 15, 2002
by David Reutter
published in Prison Legal News
August, 2002, page 12
by David M. Reutter
Filed under:
Guard Misconduct,
DOC/BOP misconduct,
Crime/Demographics,
Criminal Prosecution,
Prison/Jail Murders,
Excessive Force,
Guard Brutality/Beatings,
Stun Guns/Tasers,
Juries,
Death Row.
Location:
Florida.
A state jury has acquitted three Florida prison guards in the murder of death row inmate Frank Valdes. The guards, Captain Timothy Thornton, Sgt. Jason P. Griffis, and Sgt. Charles A. Brown, were exonerated of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated battery on a prisoner, official …
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More from this issue:
- News in Brief, by Roger Hummel
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Ill Treatment on Our Shores, by Anne-Marie Cusac
- New Jersey Goes Online with Sex Offender Website
- Florida Guards Murder Another Prisoner, Get Another Acquittal, by David Reutter
- No 85% on New Jersey Murder Conviction
- The Parents' Project, by Denise Johnston
- Prisoner's Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in The United States and Canada , 2 nd Ed., by Hans Sherrer
- Officials Netted in Kansas Jail Bribery
- Courts Retain Power To Grant TROs Under PLRA
- Washington PDA May Be Used for Pre-Trial Discovery
- Kansas Sexual Predator Civil Commitment Standards Refined by U.S. Supreme Court
- Washington Prisoner Attorney Disciplined for Negligence
- USPC Reverses Stance on HIV Discrimination after Suit Filed, by Deborah M Golden
- Remand Defeats Georgia DOC's Attempted 11th Amendment Immunity Bar, by John E Dannenberg
- Texas Juvenile Jail Suicide Settles for $100,000
- BOP Policy Denying Electric Musical Instruments Upheld; Religious Exception Enjoined
- Statute of Limitation Tolled by Administrative Exhaustion
- Wisconsin DOC in Contempt for Not Collecting PLRA Fees
- Motion Accepted as Appeal Notice; Damage Award Set Off Against Costs
- New Florida Trend: Abuse in a Spray Can
- Nevada Juvenile Road Accident Kills Six, Settles for $3.5 Million
- $54,750 Damages Awarded Asthmatic Prisoner in Michigan ETS Suit, by John E Dannenberg
- Court Criticizes PLRA Attorney Fee Cap, by David Reutter
- States Capitulate on Reading Legal Mail, by John E Dannenberg
- Judge Awards $2.8 Million to Victims of CSC Texas Boot Camp Sexual Abuse
- Oklahoma Jailhouse Informants Settle Failure to Protect Suit for $80,000
- Criminal Guards in Texas
- CCA Conditions Claim Not Frivolous
- PLRA and AEDPA Have Different Effects on Prisoner Petitions
- Court Reviewability of California Parole Denials Survives; No Parole Policy Goes to State Supreme Court, by Marvin Mentor
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Qualified Immunity, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Four Massachusetts Guards Face Charges for Assault on Prisoners During Brawl, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings.
- Last of 11 Guards Sentenced in Death of New York Prisoner, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury, Obstruction of Justice.
- $500,000 for Mentally Ill Detainee Beaten by Guard at Ohio Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Summary Judgment, Settlements, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Monell Liability.
- BOP Deputy Director and Former Prisoner Resigns After Just One Year, Sept. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Pardons/Clemency, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration.
- Florida Kills Two Prisoners on Same Day, Both Elderly, Sept. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Death Penalty, Death Row, Lethal Injection Method of Execution.
- Troubled Illinois Lockup Sees Guard Abuses, Prisoners on Hunger Strike, Sept. 1, 2026. Hunger Strikes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Warden Out, Nineteen Guards Administratively Charged in Maryland Prisoner’s Death, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Protect (Staff).