WITNESSES SAY PROBE HINDERED BY GUARDS

Corcoran officers wouldn't cooperate

Prison investigators testified yesterday that they were blocked in their
probe of guard brutality against inmates and a subsequent coverup alleged
at a turmoil-rocked San Joaquin Valley prison.

Four investigators told state senators that they were hampered by inept
management and unclear ground rules for examining allegations of
administrative and criminal wrongdoing at Corcoran State Prison.

Investigators also said an agreement between the powerful prison guard
union and top brass at the Corrections Department thwarted their attempts
to compel guards to cooperate. Seventy to 80 percent of the Corcoran guards
either refused to comment or expressed ignorance of the alleged misconduct,
according to the investigators.

``We took it as far as we could on the paper trail,'' said investigator Ben
Eason, his voice cracking with frustration. ``But you reach a point where
you need people to be candid with you.''

The testimony came on the fourth day of a special legislative hearing as
state senators questioned witnesses about allegations of brutality,
excessive force and gladiator-style fights arranged by guards at the
Corcoran prison. The remote maximum-security prison lies amid cotton fields
and it houses some of California's most notorious convicts, including
Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. The hearing, originally planned to last
two days, is expected to continue next week.

In February, the FBI indicted eight corrections officers, but limited
probes done by the Wilson administration and state attorney general's
office resulted in no criminal charges.

Just last week, however, the California Department of Corrections agreed to
review the 36 shootings inside the Corcoran prison's security housing unit,
a prison within a prison for the worst offenders.

CDC Assistant Director Richard Ehle disclosed yesterday that the shooting
review would involve Charles Latting, a former FBI investigator and
security adviser for the National Football League, along with retired
Oakland Police Chief George Hart and Jack McDonald, a former police chief
from Brookings, Ore.

In the hearing yesterday, prison investigators testified that broad probes
- -- such as an inquiry into an exercise policy that pitted rivals against
each other -- were handled by Del Pierce, a troubleshooter known as ``Mr.
Fix It'' by Capitol insiders.

But Pierce, the lead investigator, blamed former corrections director James
Gomez for deciding not to force guards to cooperate in the probe. Gomez
left the department in December 1996.

``There was a lot of resistance from me, but his decision is final,''
Pierce said.

Investigators Eason, Brian Neely and Brian Parry testified that higher-ups
in Sacramento insisted that they could not compel the guards to testify and
took away any tools they had to charge the guards with insubordination.
Guards appeared at interviews with union representatives, but investigators
said they pleaded ignorance or refused to speak on Fifth Amendment grounds.

Don Novey, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers
Association, which represents about 27,500 prison employees, said union
officials accompanied guards because rumors from Sacramento indicated that
all Corcoran staff would be fired and prosecuted.

Novey said he wished all the guards had been granted immunity ``so we could
get to the bottom of the issues.''

But investigator John Harrison said he did not have a chance to get to the
bottom of the matter. Harrison testified that his superiors ordered him to
return to his desk job at High Desert State Prison in Susanville just a few
months into his task, even though he said there were still many documents
and people to investigate.

Investigators said they did the best job possible, given their limitations,
and flatly disputed claims that they whitewashed the matter for the Wilson
administration.

``This certainly was not a whitewash. You've seen our administration
paraded through here, and we are incapable of conspiracy,'' Eason said.

Harrison said that during his interviews, he heard of only one cover-up by
Corcoran staff, which pertained to the alleged rapes of Eddie Dillard, a
120-pound, first-time convict, allegedly committed by 230-pound prisoner
Wayne Robertson. Robertson, who is accused of 15 prison rapes, supposedly
meted out punishment for the guards by raping or beating problem convicts.

Even prison critics said the investigator's candid remarks pointed to the
difficulty of getting guards to break their code of silence without any
disciplinary tools.

``Fellow officers would not be mad if officers faced a choice between
talking or losing their jobs,'' said Fresno lawyer Catherine Campbell who
is handling a civil lawsuit on the 1994 shooting death of Preston Tate, a
convicted rapist and Crips gang member killed by guards during a yard
fight.

State Senator Tom Hayden, D- Los Angeles, said the hearings could result in
legislation forcing corrections investigations to be carried out by the
Office of Inspector General, as well as further protections for
whistle-blowers and changing the inmate exercise policy.

``This is a turning point in what has became an invisible policy of
excessive force on inmates,'' Hayden said.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A13

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)