News in Brief:
California: On July 20, 2006, about 100 prisoners at the California Institution for Men in Chino
rioted in Borrego Hall in the Reception Center West. The fight was between white and Hispanic
prisoners. No guards were injured and order was quickly restored using pepper spray.
Canada: On July 20, 2006, Toronto police arrested Matthew Sanderson, 37, on charges that he e
mailed threats to the office of Maricopa county (Phoenix, Arizona) Joe Arpaio threatening to kill
him by either shooting him, poisoning him, blowing him up or burning him alive. Maricopa
county officials said that to date 11 people have been convicted of threatening to kill Arpaio who
is renowned for his brutal and sadistic jails. Sanderson accused Arpaio of being a disgusting
person who violates, tortures and hurts too many Americans. Sanderson had previously been
imprisoned in New York State on various charges before being deported to his native Canada
upon completion of the sentence. He may be extradited to Arizona to face trial on these charges.
Colorado: On February 4, 2006, Jarrets Clowers, 25, was arrested on criminal trespass charges
for apparently trying to break into the Territorial Prison in Canon City. Clowers had served
three years in the prison before being released on parole a few weeks earlier. Clowers told police
he wanted to show his younger brother where he had been in prison. If convicted of the
trespassing charge Clowers faces revocation of his parole and will most likely be reimprisoned.
Jamaica: On January 19, 2006, former prison doctor Raymoth Notice told the head of the
country's prison system that mentally ill prisoners were being raped on a daily basis in Jamaican
prisons. Major Richard Reese, the head of the prison system responded requesting details.
Mississippi: In January, 2006, local media reported the case of Pamela Rose, the wife of state
prisoner Kenneth Rose, who was barred from visiting her husband for one year because she sent
him six postage stamps in a letter. Stamps are banned at the prison. Officials at the State
Penitentiary in Parchman state that prisoners must tell their visitors what is and is not allowed.
New York: On January 20, 2006, New York state prisoner Alton Hutchinson was sentenced to two
concurrent terms of 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of assaulting a female civilian
counselor at the Elmira Correctional Facility in January, 2005. A jury had acquitted Hutchinson of
aggravated assault and attempted rape but convicted him of assault. He was sentenced as a
habitual offender due to prior convictions for attempted rape, murder, assault and other charges.
The victim was severely beaten and required seven days of hospitalization and suffered nerve
damage to her face. The sentence is consecutive to his current sentences which expire in 2045.
Ohio: On July 19, 2006, police arrested Michael Barnett, 22, an army deserter and his wife, Maria
Catini, 21, on robbery and extortion charges. Police accuse the two of targeting sex offenders
and using nude photos and videos of Maria to entice sex offenders by claiming Maria was 15
years old and wanted sex with them. When the would be child molesters would show up for a
meeting at a church near the couples home, they would be ambushed by as many as a dozen
people wielding baseball bats who would then rob them of money and jewelry. Barnett and his
wife would then use the pictures and e mails to blackmail the would be predators into paying
more money. Barnett told police he got the idea from the television series To Catch a Predator
where TV employees set up would be sex offenders and turn them over to police, making
millions in advertising money for NBC in the process. Dale Williams, a spokesman for the Carroll
County Sheriffs office dryly noted: The victims don't want to talk to us.
Oklahoma: On January 18, 2006, Charles Bowes, 25, was charged with manslaughter for the
death of fellow Ottawa county jail prisoner Frank Crownover, 51. Crownover was in the jail for
failing to pay child support, a felony, while Bowes was awaiting trial on assorted rape charges.
The two men supposedly argued over Crownover making noise at night and Bowes allegedly
rammed Crownovers head into a cinder block wall, killing him. Bowes told investigators
Crownover had charged him and he had merely stepped out the way. The fight and death
occurred in the protective custody unit of the jail. Crownover was in PC due to health problems.
Panama: On February 7, 2006, Jose Calderon, the head of the nation's prison system resigned
citing differences with his boss, Justice Minister Hector Aleman. The prison system is undergoing
a series of investigations into the beating of at least 20 prisoners by guards, black out cells, to
complaints about how prisoners are fed. Calderon admitted to media that improvements are
desperately needed in the nations prison system but that he was not being given the funds to
implement them
Pennsylvania: On July 17, 2006, Delton Doran, 33, a guard at the Federal Detention Center in
Philadelphia was criminally charge in federal court with having sex with an unidentified prisoner
at the facility.
South Carolina: In July, 2006, the Broad River Correctional Institution was locked down for over a
week after an employee lost a set of keys on July 12. The lockdown was imposed while locks
were modified.
South Carolina: On January 20, 2006, William Hartman, 46, an investigator with the Aiken Public
Defenders Office was charged with planning to smuggle Valium and Oxycontin into the Trenton
Correctional Institution on behalf of an unspecified prisoner.
Texas: On January 19, 2006, Russell Nelson, was sentenced to 75 years in prison for aggravated
kidnapping stemming from a November, 2004 incident in which he took another prisoner
hostage aboard a Grayson county jail bus. While guards had left the bus to oversee the
dismounting of the prisoner passengers Nelson took a female prisoner hostage by holding a
razor blade to her throat. Jail guards subdued Nelson and no one was injured. Nelson testified
the incident was caused by his addiction to methamphetamine.
Texas: On July 10, 2006, prosecutors charged Gabriel Perez, 44, with the 1990 murder of state
parole supervisor Richard Tinajero. Tinajero was found naked, bound, stabbed and beaten to
death in his Arlington apartment. In 1992 a Dallas jury acquitted Roberto Gonzalez of the
murder. In 1993 Perez was named as a suspect supposedly based on a fingerprint match of his
fingerprints and prints found at the crime scene. Witnesses have told police that Tinajero was gay
and frequently brought male prostitutes to his home. Police believe robbery was the motive
behind the murder.
Texas: On July 4, 2006, prisoner Victor Rocha, 26, was stabbed to death in the Mark Stiles Unit in
Beaumont. Prisoner Jose Alonzo, 37, is accused of killing him. Both men were armed.
Virginia: On January 21, 2006, federal prosecutors charged David Hicks, 37, a guard at the
Buchanan county jail, with perjury for lying about the death of Tina Stiltner, a prisoner in the jail
who either hanged herself or was strangled to death in the jail on January 31, 2002, while Hicks
stood guard a few feet away. The indictment alleges Hicks lied during a civil deposition to an
attorney who has filed a civil suit over Stiltner's death when he told counsel he did not know how
Stiltner died, did not notice marks on her neck and did not see pieces of rope in her cell. Stiltner
had been arrested for DUI and child neglect. The indictment does not indicate who killed Stiltner,
or if she committed suicide, merely that Hicks lied about his knowledge of her death.
Washington: On July 19, 2006, Patrick Clay, 41, was sentenced to four years in prison for
attempting to escape from the Yakima jail on May 8, 2006, by crawling into a hole he made in
the ceiling. Clay was serving a misdemeanor sentence for King County which has sent over 300
misdemeanor prisoners to the Yakima jail to serve their sentences.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login