Steward Training
Conviction upheld against state prison inmate who threw human waste at officer
Prisoner arrested for injuring two COs
Two officers hurt at prison
In 20 minutes, jurors convict man in assault on on Arthur Kill prison guard
Pharsalia Facility in Chenango County to Serve As First Dedicated Secure Facility

Requires Prison Closing: Blast Pataki's Plan For Sex Offenders

A parole system in turmoil

Tear gas breaks up prison brawl

Inmate allegedly sprays 10 officers with feces

New York State Retirement, State Comptroller, Retiree Pension Raid Letter, 4/04

New Discount Program

New York to Restrict Use of Force on Jail Inmates

3 Groups Give to Pataki PAC While Dealing With the State

Court and Parole Transcripts Hint at Personality of a Suspect With Many Names

Write Letter to Judge

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Just a few gems from training:

1) If a member is out of work long-term due to illness or injury, have them file for disability retirement as soon as possible. Disability retirements take at least a year to be approved and filing early will minimize to period of time the member is not receiving a paycheck. In most instances, members file for disability retirement when they decide that they can not return to work, usually close to termination. If those members would have filed for disability earlier they would have been approved many months earlier. If the member recovers from the illness or injury, the disability papers can be pulled at any time prior to approval.

2) Workman's compensation claims require some very important initial steps by the member that if overlooked could cause a reduction in benefits or denial of the claim. The member needs to immediately file an accident report, notify a supervisor, log incident in a DOCS log book, file a C-3 form etc. I can't remember all the steps, just make sure you get a NYSCOPBA's Workman's Comp. Packet if you get injured on the job.

3) Several months before you retire, call NYSCOPBA for a Retirement Packet. The folder contains information on the benefits

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The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has upheld the March 1999 conviction of a Shawangunk Correctional Facility inmate who threw feces and urine at a corrections officer while the officer was delivering food to the inmate in the special housing unit.

Prisoner Jamal Thomas committed the act on October 21, 1997, and as a result was found guilty in an Ulster County Court jury trial of aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate.

Citing Thomas’ criminal history, which includes convictions for assault, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, escape, kidnapping and murder, visiting County Court Judge Frank LaBuda of Sullivan County sentenced Thomas to a term of 25 years to life running consecutively to the sentence he was previously serving.

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State Police at Ellenville have charged an inmate at the Eastern Correctional Facility at Napanoch with assaulting two corrections officers.

Shortly before 3 p.m. on September 17, while confined to the isolation-visiting room at the prison, inmate Injah Tafari, 41, became irate and began throwing metal-framed composite chairs through the windows of the confinement center.

He injured two corrections officer who were attempting to restrain him. One officer sustained a cornea abrasion to the right eye. The other officer sustained a two inch laceration to his forehead, resulting in 11 stitches. Both officers were treated and released from Ellenville Regional Hospital.

Tafari also damaged three windows in the isolation center.

State Police were called to the prison to assist.

Tafari was charged with two counts of assault in the second degree and one count of criminal mischief in the third degree.

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LOCAL NEWS
December 21, 2005

ELMIRA

Two correction officers at the Elmira Correctional Facility were treated Tuesday at an area hospital and released after sustaining injuries during an altercation with two inmates.

The early-morning incident occurred after officers took what they thought was a note one inmate tried to pass to another and discovered it was an envelope filled with heroin, said Al Mothershed, western region vice president of the New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association.

Two other officers and a sergeant also were injured in the incident, but planned to go to their personal physicians, Mothershed said.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

By JOHN J. O'BRIEN

ADVANCE SUPREME COURT BUREAU

A Staten Island jury took just 20 minutes yesterday to convict a Manhattan man of assault on an Arthur Kill Correctional Facility officer last year.

Theodis Scarbbrough, 27, showed no emotion as the jury foreman said "guilty" when Justice Robert Collini asked for the verdict.

With little fanfare in an essentially empty courtroom, the now twice-convicted felon was led away by court officers to the city Department of Correction holding pens in state Supreme Court, St. George.

Scarbbrough is serving out a five-year sentence in the Charleston prison facility on a 2001 gun conviction in Manhattan.

Assistant District Attorneys Raja Rajeswari and Michael Formichelli, who prosecuted the case, charged that Scarbbrough repeatedly punched Officer Pedro Correa on April 9, 2004. Correa had issued a disciplinary report against him the previous day for threatening another officer.

Witnesses testified that Scarbbrough became agitated and assaulted Correa when he was ordered to report to a departmental hearing room.

Correa suffered severe bruising to his rib cage and was out of work for 40 days, officials said.

The defendant faces a maximum of seven more years behind bars on this latest conviction of second-degree assault, the top charge against him.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6 in state Supreme Court.

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Governor George E. Pataki today announced that his 2006-07 Executive Budget, which will be unveiled next week, will include $130 million in new funding to support the civil commitment of sexual predators upon their release from prison, and provide them treatment in secure facilities.

“Providing safety and security for our children and our families is the most important responsibility government can provide,” Governor Pataki said. “Today, there are 5,000 sexual predators awaiting release from New York’s prisons. We must do everything in our power to keep those who still represent a danger off our streets, out of our neighborhoods, and away from our children -- and that’s why my Executive Budget will include funding to support a new secure facility and treatment programs directed at sexual predators.”

The Governor said that his Executive Budget will propose $130 million in new capital resources to demolish the minimum security correctional facility at Camp Pharsalia and to develop a new state-of-the-art 500-bed secure facility at the site. The transfer of the facility located in Chenango County, from the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) to the Office of Mental Health (OMH), will eliminate excess capacity in the prison system, and still ensure that sufficient space is available for the 63,100 inmates DOCS projects will be incarcerated next year.

The new facility at Pharsalia is expected to employ more than 1,000 staff and will have an annual payroll of approximately $80 million a year when fully operational.

Later today, in New York City, the Appellate Division will hear arguments in the State’s appeal of a case challenging Governor Pataki decision to begin civilly-confining sexually-violent predators who -- upon their release from State prison -- still represent a danger to New York’s children and families.

The $130 million capital appropriation will be dedicated to construction of a new long-term secure facility for sex offenders who have been civilly committed to inpatient psychiatric treatment upon their release from prison. The facility is expected to open in 2009. The new facility will be utilized solely to house sex offenders and will avoid any interaction or co-housing with other mentally ill individuals under OMH care.

In the Executive Budget, an additional $35 million will be made available for the renovation of current OMH facilities to meet the on-going, short-term needs associated with the demand to house and treat sexual predators. Also, included will be a total of $27 million in new operating support for OMH in connection with housing and treating sexual predators in existing facilities in 2006-07.

Since 1998, Governor Pataki has proposed civil commitment legislation which would enable the State to civilly commit sexually-violent predators.

Last year, because the Assembly Leadership had consistently failed to act on his bill, the Governor directed the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) to push the envelope of existing laws used for the civil commitment of any New Yorker to be applied to sexually violent predators. Since September 12, 2005, more than 200 individuals have been evaluated and 33 are currently committed.

Of the 36 predators who have been confined, more than half have sexually assaulted children younger than 13, several have sexually assaulted children 6 years old or less, and two have sexually assaulted 3 year old children. Some of these offenders either refused, or withdrew from sex offender treatment in prison.

After the State began civilly committing dangerous predators, Mental Hygiene Legal Services filed suit on behalf of 12 of the offenders. On November 15, 2005, the Supreme Court in New York County found that although the Governor had a valid concern about the risks posed to the public by repeat sex offenders, these convicted sexual predators were entitled to special procedural rights because they were evaluated for civil commitment while still in prison. Today the appeal in the First Department, Appellate Division, will be heard. Since that November 15th decision, an additional 10 offenders have similarly filed suit demanding release on the basis of these special procedural rights.

The Governor reinforced his dedication to providing safe, secure neighborhoods across New York in his recent State of the State Address. Under the Governor’s leadership, progress has been made in reducing crime and ensuring public safety, making New York the safest large state in the nation. Just three weeks ago, the Governor and Legislature enacted two crucial new laws; one that will keep illegal guns off of the streets and one that will provide greater protections to police officers by imposing stiffer penalties on those who commit crimes against law enforcement officials.

He called on the Legislature to build on that momentum and enact even tougher legislation which will help New York become even safer. The Governor announced he will submit legislation that would:

• Prevent the release of sexually-violent predators into neighborhoods;

• Create longer sentences for those convicted of sexually violent crimes;

• End the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault;

• Make New York’s Megan’s Law statute even stronger; and

• Require every criminal who commits a crime to give a DNA sample.

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GOVERNOR PATAKI: Idea draws union heat.

Governor Pataki last week announced that his executive budget will include funding for a $130 million facility to support the civil commitment of sex offenders upon their release from prison — a move that quickly drew fire from the union representing Correctional Officers.

The money will be used to demolish the minimum security correctional prison at Camp Pharsalia in upstate New York, and a state-of-the-art 500-bed facility at the site will be developed in its place.

'Keep Them Off Streets’

"Today, there are 5,000 sexual predators awaiting release from New York's prisons," Mr. Pataki said in a statement. "We must do everything in our power to keep those who still represent a danger off our streets, out of our neighborhoods, and away from our children."

But an official from the union representing the 62 state Correctional Officers currently working at that facility said the union was opposed to the move. "We laud the Governor for his attempt to protect the citizens of this state from sexual predators by taking this type of initiative," said Dennis Fitzpatrick, the spokesman for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. "However, we are adamantly against any closures that will affect our membership."

Last year, Governor Pataki proposed shuttering Camp Pharsalia and several other Department of Correctional Services prisons, asserting that they were no longer needed due to the reduction in prisoners in recent years.

NYSCOPBA officials persuaded the State Legislature to keep the facilities open.

According to the Pataki administration, the new facility, which is scheduled to open in 2009, will employ more than 1,000 state workers and will have an annual payroll of approximately $80 million a year when fully operational. It will be used solely to house sex offenders.

Since 1998, the Governor has proposed civil confinement legislation which would enable the state to commit sexually-violent offenders. But the State Legislature has not agreed on an acceptable version of that bill.

Mr. Fitzpatrick said it was unclear what would happen to the Correctional Officers currently working at the center and which agency would be in charge of the new facility. "The closest facility is about 60 to 70 miles away," he added, referring to possible transfer locations.

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fficers warn Assembly panel that state policies put the public in peril

By BRENDAN LYONS, Staff writer Times Union
First published: Thursday, January 12, 2006

ALBANY -- The public is being endangered by secret policies that allow parolees to remain on the streets even when they commit new crimes, parole officers from across the state testified before an Assembly committee Wednesday.

People have been raped, robbed and murdered by parolees who should have been locked up because parole officers are being saddled with paperwork, restricted in the number of arrests they can make, and spending less than 50 percent of their time on the streets keeping tabs on parolees, the officers testified.

Wednesday's hearing, which drew close to 300 people, follows a Times Union series in July that first exposed the allegations. Following the report, several parole officers reported being treated like criminal suspects and threatened with the loss of their jobs as internal affairs investigators tried to learn who leaked confidential criminal files.

"Heinous things are being done to parole officers," Manuelita Clemente, a Manhattan-based parole officer, testified Wednesday. "We're being treated as parolees."

The Times Union reported that parole officers said they are being guided by a secret warrant quota system that limits the number of parolees they can take off the streets, even when they have been accused of crimes such as drug dealing and assault. Division of Parole officials have denied there is a quota system and said data supports their position that more parolees are being locked up.

Jeffrion L. Aubry, D-Queens, who chairs the Assembly's Committee on Correction, threatened to subpoena testimony at a second hearing from Anthony G. Ellis II, the agency's executive director. Ellis did not attend Wednesday's committee hearing. Instead, he issued a written statement which provided a historical outline of the agency's successes and avoided the allegations raised by parole officers.

Ellis, a State Police official who was appointed head of the agency by Gov. George Pataki in December 2003, was not available for comment on Wednesday. Scott Steinhardt, an agency spokesman, said Ellis was not at the hearing because his "schedule prohibited him from being there." He declined to disclose Ellis' schedule.

The agency released a written statement calling the parole officers' assertions "baseless union allegations" that have followed attempts by Ellis to make the division more accountable.

The office previously released data showing that the number of parole violation warrants is higher than in 1995, when many parole officers contend the policy changes began to take shape.

During Wednesday's hearing, which lasted several hours, parole officers and others outlined how policies that require them to spend more time at their desks, filling out paperwork, preventing them from keeping tabs on dangerous felons.

Jim Jones, a parole officer in the Rockland County region, said caseloads are so high on some days that officers spend only minutes with dozens of parolees who must be drug tested and queried to determine whether they are following rules.

Clemente, who was assigned a desk job after speaking out several months ago, said there is less electronic monitoring of parolees, including sex offenders, because resources have been gutted.

Joseph Ingemie, a senior parole officer, testified that he was reassigned two months ago after standing up for another officer who was interrogated by internal affairs investigators following a shooting incident in Syracuse.

The shooting unfolded Nov. 18 when a parole officer and police went to arrest a man on a parole violation. They arrived to find the man in a violent struggle with his wife, and he allegedly attacked them and stabbed the parole officer in the head before being shot and wounded by the parole officers. The man's wife was hiding behind the parole officer when the incident took place, officials said.

The parole officer was being treated at a hospital when internal affairs investigators allegedly pulled him into a locked room and began questioning him over the objections of medical staff, testimony revealed Wednesday.

Ingemie, who had been supervisor of the Upstate Bureau of Special Services before his recent reassignment, said he has not been told why he was taken off his job. Another officer, Bob Georgia, was suspended and faces termination for allegedly trying to prevent internal affairs investigators from interrogating the officer.

"Without going into all the details of that incident I will say that the chief of the Syracuse Police Department called the (injured) officer's actions heroic for saving the woman's life," Ingemie said.

Roger Benson, president of the Public Employees Federation, the parole officers umbrella union, said parole officers from Long Island to Buffalo have documented cases where parolees have been set free despite repeated violations. He said the agency has implemented "gestapo tactics" to keep parole officers from speaking and "systematically and effectively demoralized them."

It is the second time in six months that parole officers have spoken out. In August, they held a news conference two weeks after allegations of a warrant quota system were outlined in the Times Union report, which relied on confidential criminal records and internal agency memorandums.

The newspaper found dozens of cases in which supervisors had rewritten reports or manipulated hearings to prevent parole violators from being returned to jail.

After the stories, officials launched a probe to learn who leaked the information.

Gov. George Pataki's office has declined to comment on the allegations by parole officers.

Aubry, who said a second hearing will be scheduled, characterized the testimony as "stunning."

"Division of Parole policies ... have allowed parolees to commit violent crimes and the assertion that at least three murders can be directly attributed to harmful changes in recent parole policies demand answers from the Pataki administration," Aubry said.

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COMSTOCK -- Three inmates at the maximum security Geat Meadow state prison were injured Friday night in a 10-person brawl that had to be suppressed with tear gas, officials said.

Michael Fraser, a spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services, said a utility razor knife was used in the fracas, and one inmate suffered cuts that required facial stitches. The other injuries were not serious, and no prison guards were injured, he said.

The fight took place at about 8 p.m. Friday in a large outdoor yard at the prison on Route 22 in Comstock.

"One of our corrections officers gave verbal orders to cease fighting," Fraser said. "The inmates ignored the warning and one of the officers fired a chemical agent."

Fraser identified 10 men, including three serving time for murder, who were involved in the fight. He said charges, ranging from fighting to creating a disturbance, were pending.

"We're going to sort it all out," he said.

Fraser said the corrections officers acted appropriately to quell the fighting.

An officer noticed the melee and fired tear gas from a tower overlooking the yard, according to Dennis Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents correction officers.

Fitzpatrick said it was his understanding that the fight started out as a dispute between two members of the gang known as the Bloods, and escalated from there.

"The officer did an excellent job dispersing the crowd. It could have gotten worse," Fitzpatrick said. "The gas did its job by dispersing everyone and keeping other inmates away that could have been involved."

The prison was not locked down as a result of the fight. Fraser said the inmates involved were confined to their cells and the yard stayed open.

He said an investigation with State Police into the brawl is ongoing.

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By DENISE A. RAYMO, Staff Writer

MALONE -- Ten Department of Corrections employees were hit by two handfuls of feces allegedly thrown by an inmate upset that his Upstate Correctional Facility cell was to be searched.

Curtis Crenshaw, 39, of the Bronx, who is serving 25 years to life for second-degree murder, is expected to face internal disciplinary charges as soon as the investigation is complete, said DOC spokesman Michael Fraser.

Crenshaw was transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora shortly after the alleged incident. He had been housed at Upstate since August but has been in the state-prison system since 1997.

Part of the routine at a state prison is a cell frisk, which is when two or three correction officers randomly call an inmate out of his cell and search it.

Crenshaw was one of the 1,200 Upstate inmates who live in a special-housing unit there. He had covered over the small window in his cell, which is what prompted officers to call for the frisk.

When the officers went to get Crenshaw out on Wednesday, he reportedly refused to leave and barricaded himself inside by snapping off something in the cell door's lock.

"Our officers couldn't get in," Fraser said.

More higher-ranking officers began to arrive to help, and aerosol canisters of tear gas were sprayed into the cell to subdue Crenshaw.

"But, at that time, he threw (feces) all over our officers," he said.

As the fouled officers continued to work at opening the cell door, Crenshaw "went back for more and hit the officers again," Fraser said.

"We removed the cell door and went in, and the inmate walked right out. He was cooperative after he was secured by our officers."

In all, six correction officers, two sergeants and two lieutenants were hit with feces, he said.

Fraser said one particular CO who got the worst of the coverage was examined by the facility's physician for exposure to contamination and released.

Incidents of throwing bodily waste and fluids on state-prison personnel has fallen sharply since 1996, when Gov. George Pataki made throwing bodily fluid a felony, Fraser said.

"It's pretty rare, but it does happen," he said, adding that it had happened with Crenshaw at other facilities.

"He has had disciplinary action against him, and he has thrown before."

At least five years can be added to an inmate's sentence if he is found guilty of throwing, and repeat offenders can get as much as 15 to 25 additional years in prison.

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April 2004

Dear Retiree,

I am writing to warn you that the Governor is trying to use your pension fund to solve the State's budget problems. His proposal is illegal and I have made it clear that I will oppose it, but I need your help to ensure that he does not succeed in raiding the pension fund.

As Sole Trustee of your Retirement System and as a fiduciary, my highest priority is to ensure that the Common Retirement Fund is protected and that your retirement is financially secure. As dedicated public servants, you deserve nothing less.

During the 1990s, unprecedented growth in the stock market dramatically increased the assets in the Common Retirement Fund. As a result, for the past 10 years, the State and local governments have made very small contributions and sometimes no contributions at all on behalf of their employees. However, the tragedy of September 11th and numerous corporate scandals hurt our economy and the stock market. This downturn in the market requires that once again we ask the State and local employers to make a normal contribution to the Fund of about 12 percent of payroll, something that the Governor does not want to do. Please note that the normal contribution in the 1970s and 1980s was about 18 percent of payroll.

In January, Governor Pataki proposed saving the State and local governments money now by reducing their contributions to the pension fund. But there is no free lunch. Contributing less now means the State and local governments will owe even more a few years from now. It is irresponsible to push today's costs to the future.

The Governor wants to take money from the pension fund because the State and local governments have serious budget problems. But those problems are a result of the weak economy especially upstate, huge State debt, and enormous growth in unfunded mandates. These problems were not caused by retirees and members of the pension system and you should not be forced to pay for them. In fact, these problems have caused enormous deficits in State and local government budgets for years, well before pension contributions became an issue.

Last December, before the Governor publicly announced his proposed changes, I told him that his proposals are illegal and unconstitutional. I will not agree to any changes to the Retirement System that weaken the Common Retirement Fund and your financial security.

In the 1990s, with the help of retirees like yourself, Comptrollers Ned Regan and later Carl McCall successfully fought to protect your retirement benefits from similar raids on the pension fund initiated by Governor Cuomo and then Governor Pataki himself. Unfortunately, Governor Pataki, who has already lost once in the courts, is trying again. I plan to fight any effort to weaken your benefits.

For the second year, I have proposed legislation that helps local governments transition to paying their normal contributions again, but protects the pension fund and your financial future. I thank the leaders of the State Senate and the Assembly who are cooperating with us to resolve this issue.

If you want to express your opinion about keeping the pension fund strong and secure for you and all future retirees, you should feel free to contact the Governor's Office (518-474-8390), your State Senator (518-455-2800) and your Assembly member (518-455-4100) in Albany. You can locate their names and local addresses and phone numbers in the blue pages of your telephone directory under New York State Offices.

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By JULIA PRESTON

New York City officials said yesterday that they had agreed to broad new measures to control the use of force by guards against inmates in city jails, including the use of blows to the head. The settlement with 22 inmates caps two decades of grinding legal battles; it is the first time reform measures already in place in some correction facilities -- will be applied cittywide to reduce violence behind bars.

Settling a 2002 lawsuit by the Legal Aid Society, the city agreed to revise its guidelines on when and how guards may use force, post hundreds of new video cameras in the jails, overhaul its procedures for investigating violent episodes and provide more training for guards in how to restrain inmates.

The city will also pay a total of $2.2 million to 22 inmates who were injured in clashes with guards. Inmates in the suit had suffered shattered cheekbones, ruptured eyeballs and split eardrums after officers threw punches at their heads instead of using less damaging control methods. The settlement, reached on Feb. 17 and placed into the court record late last week, presents a twist on the usual use of video cameras for security: They will be in place to watch the guards as well as the inmates.

City jails include the large Rikers Island complex, a jail barge off Hunts Point in the Bronx, the Bernard B. Kerik Complex in Manhattan and the prison wards at Bellevue and Elmhurst hospitals. There are about 13,750 inmates in the city system on an average day. The jails that have already adopted similar reforms include two units at Rikers Island — the Central Punitive Seegregation Unit and the Eric M. Taylor Center — and the two hospital wards.

While the city had responded to a series of earlier suits — the ffirst one dates back to 1983 — with reforms in a few detention centers, this ttime correction officials agreed to make the changes across all 11 jails in the system. The settlement will accelerate across New York the application of practices, like video monitoring and self-defense tactics for guards that do not involve using fists, that have long been standard in other big-city correction systems around the nation.

City officials hailed the settlement as a legal victory and a harbinger of their new, more aggressive approach to legal challenges that try to force change through the courts. The city did not admit that there was any pattern of abuse in the jails, as Legal Aid had claimed that there was. The suit is expected to be closed this month with no court-appointed monitor or any other continuing role for the court.

The settlement "preserves the good name of the City of New York," said Martin F. Horn, the city's correction commissioner, because "there is no finding that confirms the most damning and critical allegation of a pattern of brutality." He said many of the mandated reforms were already under way and others had been on his agenda to carry out regardless of the suit's outcome.

Lawyers for the inmates said they had agreed to settle the suit rather than endure a grueling trial against city officials, who appeared recalcitrant. The 34-page settlement, the inmates' lawyers said, allowed reforms they had sought for years to be put in place faster. The agreement gives the city strict timetables for carrying out the new measures, and it gives Legal Aid more access to the jails and to information about violent encounters so it can verify that the agreement is being honored.

In four years of litigation, some 350,000 pages of documents piled up in the chambers of the presiding judge, Denny Chin of Federal District Court in Manhattan. The secret settlement negotiations alone lasted one year.

The details of the financial settlements with the individual inmates remained confidential for their protection, lawyers for both sides said, since some are still incarcerated.

One plaintiff, Shawn Davis, 38, lost the sight in his left eye when a guard on Rikers Island kicked him in the face after a melee. Another, Charles Paige, a practicing Muslim who is 47, suffered a fractured cheekbone from a face blow (called a head shot in prison parlance) after confronting Rikers guards who, he said, had mishandled his Koran and stepped on his prayer rug.

The settlement sets specific revisions to the guidelines for use of force by guards. The new guidelines say, with more clarity than earlier versions, that it is "expressly prohibited" to use more force than is necessary to restrain an inmate. They say explicitly that blows, including blows to the head, "should not be struck" if other tactics, like control holds or pushes, would work to subdue an inmate.

"It's not inappropriate to use force, it's inappropriate to use force inappropriately," Mr. Horn said, summarizing the guidelines' message for correction officers. Guards will get extra training on techniques to restrain inmates that are less potentially harmful.

Hundreds of additional video cameras will be mounted in locations agreed upon with Legal Aid. The exact places and numbers remain confidential, so neither guards nor inmates will be aware of them. Mr. Horn supports using cameras in jails; about 2000 of them are already in place. But the suit pointed out that many of the cameras were not working. The settlement details how Legal Aid will be told about the duration and results of the recordings. It also requires guards to use hand-held video cameras to record cell searches.

The Correction Department will revamp the manual, procedures and training of its internal investigations unit, acknowledging that the unit had fallen behind the times. The city will hire an outside consultant to recommend changes, and will provide a new 40-hour training program for investigators. The suit had charged that officers were not disciplined after injuring inmates because many investigations made cursory reviews or were biased against prisoners.

If the city complies, the agreement "is likely to yield significant changes that will improve the security of the prisoners," said Jonathan Chasan, a veteran Legal Aid lawyer. He pointed to a steep decline in violent encounters in a notoriously dangerous center, the Central Punitive Segregation Unit, following a 1998 court order stemming from an earlier Legal Aid case.

"Where we brought suit and were successful, there was an enormous reduction in the violence perpetrated on our clients," said John Boston, the director of the Legal Aid Society's Prisoners' Rights Project. But he said city officials "didn't get the hint" — until now — that the reforms should ld be extended to the whole system. Legal Aid was assisted in the case by two private firms, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady and Sullivan & Cromwell.

Mr. Horn argued that conditions over all in New York's jails have improved sharply in recent years, even without the lawsuit. In 2005, incidents of force where inmates were injured by guards dropped to 72, from 459 in 1997, according to correction figures.

Judge Chin will hold a final hearing on March 31 to approve the settlement. If the city does not meet its terms, Legal Aid lawyers cannot return to a federal judge, but they can go to state court to file for breach of contract.

The settlement expires on Nov. 1, 2009, near the end of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's current term. Gail Donoghue , a senior counsel for the city, said that New York would not be locked in excruciating legal battling "for the next 20 years."

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By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: March 13, 2006

Gov. George E. Pataki's Virginia-based political action committee has received three $25,000 contributions so far this year from groups with interests before New York State government, campaign filings show.

The large donations were made by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which is seeking changes to the governor's proposed budget; Stephen M. Ross of the Related Companies, one of the developers chosen by the Pataki administration to turn the main post office in Manhattan into a new transit hub; and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a Washington-based law firm that has won large lobbying contracts from the state in recent years.

Kevin Quinn, a spokesman for Governor Pataki, said the donations did not influence state actions. "Any decisions that we make are based solely on the merits, on sound public policy and on what is in the best interest of New Yorkers," he said.

Fund-raising for the governor's political action committee, the 21st Century Freedom State PAC, has dropped off since Mr. Pataki announced last summer that he would not seek a fourth term. But the recent contributions — which were made public because of a Virginia law requiring donations of more than $10,000 to be posted promptly — suggest a renewed fund-raising effort this year.

The donation from the police and corrections officers' political action committee was logged on Feb. 16, the day the governor's appendix was removed, campaign filings show.

Brian Shanagher, the executive vice president of the association for police and corrections officers, said that the group made its donation on Feb. 15, when Mr. Pataki appeared at an event it held. The governor complained of stomach pain at the event. The governor canceled a public appearance with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that day, but later went to a book party for Edward Hayes, a prominent lawyer who has published a memoir. The governor went to the hospital late that night.

"We were just pleased he could come," Mr. Shanagher said.

The association is seeking changes to the rules that set staffing levels for corrections officers, and changes to the governor's budget proposal, which calls for closing an upstate prison to turn it into a facility for holding sexual offenders — a move that would force some officers to relocate.

The donation from Mr. Ross and the Related Companies was made on March 3, a few days before Mr. Pataki was released from the hospital. Mr. Ross did not return a call seeking comment for this article.

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March 16, 2006

By MICHELLE O'DONNELL

The prisoner was angry. He was to appear before Justice Eugene P. Bambrick in Part K-11 of State Supreme Court in Queens to be sentenced for drug possession, but he would not enter the courtroom.

"He says he's not going," the court officer said, according to the minutes of the sentencing hearing, on a two-year-old drug charge, that January day in 1989. The prisoner, Damon Wells, was angry because his sentencing hearing was not being adjourned, and he could therefore not be married before going to prison, his lawyer, Robert Klein, explained.

Mr. Wells knew that he would be locked up for at least two years, and without a marriage certificate, state prison rules would not allow him overnight visits with his female companion.

In the end, Damon Wells - now known by his given name, Darryl Littlejohn, the bouncer accused of killing Imette St. Guillen, a graduate student - was taken before the judge and was sent to Eastern Correctional Facility in Ulster County. But the flash of anger that day is one of several passages in court records from Mr. Littlejohn's various courtroom appearances that give hints of his personality. At times he sounds defiant, at other times blunt and, finally, contrite.

In 1988 in the Queens case, an order from the clerk tells correction officers to produce Mr. Wells from jail, using "force if necessary."

In 1992, Mr. Littlejohn failed to appear in court, forfeiting a $12,500 bond his family had paid $6,000 to obtain.

Mr. Littlejohn said little in court appearances, uttering "yeah" and "uh hum," and often nodding or shaking his head in response to questions.

Minutes of his interview with a state parole board in May 2004 offer a fuller picture of Mr. Littlejohn.

The board observed that Mr. Littlejohn, then held under the alias Jonathan Blaze, had had a clean disciplinary record in prison. They told him they hoped he would not return to his criminal ways once released.

"Never going to happen," Mr. Littlejohn replied.

In prison, Mr. Littlejohn told the board, he had gained some work skills, including floor covering, barbering and food service. He had also been in a program to control his temper.

A board member asked him what he had learned in that program.

"Meaning?" Mr. Littlejohn responded.

"Well, if you took the program, I would like to think that given your record, especially you got something out of it," the board member, who was not identified by name, said.

"I just learned to think before reacting to anger," Mr. Littlejohn replied.

"Why are you angry?" a board member asked.

"Why am I angry?" Mr. Littlejohn asked.

"Why were you angry?" a member asked. "You said reacting to anger."

"No," Mr. Littlejohn replied. "The program was based around learning to think before reacting and responding out of anger, didn't say anything about being angry."

Mr. Klein, who represented Mr. Littlejohn as Damon Wells in the 1987 drug case, said he could not recall him or the case, but he did say that courtroom conditions, including court delays, jail overcrowding and uncertainty as to whether to plead guilty or risk a jury trial, often contributed to outbursts by defendants already prone to them.

"It's a good deal of pressure on them," said Mr. Klein, who is retired and living in Florida.

In the 2004 parole hearing, Mr. Littlejohn was asked what type of job he wanted after his release.

"I have intentions of applying for my C.D.L. license," he replied in an apparent reference to a commercial driver's license. "I've been studying manuals, so that's what I'm geared toward, apply for the C.D.L. license."

Before the interview's close, a board member brought up Mr. Littlejohn's three children.

"They're seeing Dad here in state prison," the commissioner said. "You're getting to a point here where you don't want them to fall in the same trap with the same problems you had when you were younger."

Mr. Littlejohn offered no oral reply. The board denied his request for immediate parole, but he was released three months later.

A grand jury is hearing evidence against Mr. Littlejohn in Ms. St. Guillen's murder.

He has also been suggested by law enforcement officials as a possible suspect in other crimes in the metropolitan region, two rapes and a kidnapping. In one of the rapes and the kidnapping, victims failed to pick Mr. Littlejohn out of a lineup.

Detective Lt. Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police, said yesterday that the victim of one of the rapes, on Nov. 9 in Elmont, N.Y., had looked at a photo array, but he said the results of that viewing were confidential. He said a lineup had not been conducted in that case.

He said that investigators had conducted a "thorough and unbiased" investigation, and added: "As the investigation progresses and if the need arises to apply for a court-ordered lineup, we would take that course of action."

Kareem Fahim contributed reporting for this article.

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Co. Mark Antonelli was killed in a MVO Accident on Dec. 16 2004 by a Drunk Diver on Drugs named Serge Gilbert who has a previous D.W.I. and other charges. This week there wasnt a trial as expected as the ultra liberal District Attorney in Oswego County offfered Mr. Gilbert up to 1 year in County Jail. We all know what that means 6 months on good behavior. This is an outrage of the criminal justice system. Two Officer who followed Mr. Antonelli home the night of the accident actually witnesses the accident and tried to save his life to no avail. The life of a Correction Officer is now worth than less than a year in county. I am asking each and every Officer & Sgt. to write their own letter to Oswego County Court Judge John J. Elliott explaining to him why Serge Gilbert deserves a harsher sentence. This is the only way this deal can be stopped by writing letters to the judge. If he receives enough he will not accept the plea. Officer Antonelli left a wife an child and was married 1 year previous to his tragic death. Facility employees would agree with me that he was a top notch officer that would give you the shirt off his back. Write to

The Honorable John J. Elliott
Oswego County Courthouse
25 East Oneida Street
Oswego, NY 13126

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