'CORCORAN'-STYLE CARNAGE CONTINUES IN CALIFORNIA

FBI Probes Deaths at 2 More State Prisons

Inquiries: Slayings of inmates at Pelican Bay and in Susanville lead to
investigations of guards. Corcoran officers plead not guilty in earlier
case.

FRESNO--As part of the federal government's growing scrutiny of California
prisons, the FBI is launching civil rights investigations at the Pelican
Bay and Susanville penitentiaries into the role guards may have played in
the beatings and killings of inmates.

FBI officials said the decision to investigate follows a number of recent
assaults and deaths of inmates at the two maximum-security prisons in
Northern California.

At Pelican Bay, agents will try to determine if rival inmates attacked each
other at the behest of prison staff, including at least one assault earlier
this month that resulted in the stabbing death of an inmate, according to
FBI officials. At the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, FBI agents
have begun looking into the Feb. 4 death of inmate David Torres, who was
gunned down by an officer during a prison yard fight.

"We have opened a preliminary civil rights investigation into the shooting
death of inmate Torres," said Jim Maddock, head of the FBI office in
Sacramento. "As far as Pelican Bay is concerned, that is being handled by
the FBI in San Francisco. At this point, I can't say anything more."

An FBI spokesman in San Francisco declined to comment on the probe, but a
U.S. Justice Department official in Washington confirmed that agents would
be focusing on possible violations of Pelican Bay inmates' civil rights.

The state Department of Corrections characterized the FBI probes as routine
investigations prompted by complaints from family members of the deceased
inmates.

"Just like any law enforcement agency, the FBI is required to follow up and
investigate any complaints," said Christine May, a department spokeswoman.
"It does not appear to be an investigation into the Department of
Corrections as a whole."

May said her agency was not aware of an FBI inquiry involving Pelican Bay.
She said the complaints arose out of the Torres killing at High Desert and
the death of an unnamed inmate at the California Medical Facility at
Vacaville. "Our understanding is that the FBI is looking at these two
specific complaints. Like any other investigation, we will cooperate with
them in any way they request."

Until now, most of the federal government's attention has been focused on
the troubled lockup at Corcoran in the San Joaquin Valley. On Wednesday,
eight prison officers and supervisors pleaded not guilty to charges of
setting up fights between rival inmates at Corcoran and then covering up
the violence by falsifying incident reports.

In one 1994 fight, prosecutors allege, some of the officers gathered in a
control booth to watch for fun as one officer quipped, "It's going to be
duck hunting season." The fight ended when an officer fired a rifle at one
of the aggressors and killed 25-year-old inmate Preston Tate by mistake.

In the federal court in Fresno, one lieutenant, two sergeants and five
officers were each charged with four counts that include bodily injury of
inmates, conspiracy to deprive inmates of their civil rights and depriving
inmates of their civil rights under color of law. One officer also was
charged with perjury. Six of the eight still work for the Corrections
Department and have been placed on administrative leave with pay.

All eight declined to comment after being released without having to post bail.

"We all believe that they are innocent," said Fresno attorney Curtis Sisk,
speaking on behalf of the eight lawyers representing the officers. "We're
quite convinced of it at this point, and we see no reason to think
otherwise."

Sisk said defense attorneys were eagerly awaiting the federal government's
"voluminous" documents as part of the discovery process. He said he doubted
that the government could support the charges and predicted that it would
"drag its feet" in producing the paperwork.

But Assistant U.S. Atty. Carl Faller, who oversaw the four-year
investigation into alleged civil rights abuses at Corcoran, said the
government would comply with its legal responsibility. "We'll produce the
information to the defense as required by law, and we remain confident in
the ultimate success of the prosecution."

Corcoran Inquiry Raised Questions

In the past, prison watchdog groups say, federal agents have shied away
from investigating allegations of inmate abuse by correctional officers.
But federal authorities said the Corcoran investigation raised disturbing
questions about the possible role of corrections officials and the prison
guard union in covering up abuses.

Last month, when announcing the Corcoran indictments, the FBI's Maddock
denounced the "intentional efforts on the part of some correctional and
other officials to stymie, delay and obstruct" the federal probe.

State corrections officials and union representatives have denied impeding
the Corcoran investigation or overlooking officer wrongdoing at the Pelican
Bay and Susanville prisons.

Over the past two years, eight inmates have been killed by other inmates
inside Pelican Bay's Security Housing Unit, where the prison's most serious
offenders are locked up. At least six of the killings stem from an internal
war within the Aryan Brotherhood gang, according to corrections officials.

At the same time, officers at Pelican Bay have come under internal
investigation for allegedly setting up inmate attacks on convicted child
molesters. In January, one officer, 42-year-old Jose Garcia, was tried and
convicted of conspiring to assault child molesters at Pelican Bay.

Then, two weeks ago, an inmate who testified against Officer Garcia in his
Del Norte County trial was stabbed to death by another inmate. William
Stanton Boyd, 36, was slain on the general population yard at the North
Coast prison.

At least part of the FBI's interest in Pelican Bay concerns Boyd's death
and whether it was in retaliation for testifying against Officer Garcia,
according to two federal sources familiar with the case. Last week, a few
days after Boyd's slaying, a sergeant and an officer at Pelican Bay were
placed on administrative leave for unspecified reasons.

The pair, according to their attorney, had been accused by prison
authorities of helping Officer Garcia mastermind attacks on child
molesters. San Francisco lawyer Bob Noel contended that the accusations
were drummed up by a rival officer faction and said his clients were never
charged.

Noel, who also represented Officer Garcia, said there was no link between
Boyd's testimony at Garcia's trial and his murder. "Yes, Boyd was called to
testify by the prosecution against my client, Garcia, but his testimony
ended up helping Garcia," he said.

"Boyd denied beating up child molesters at the behest of Garcia and the
others. Boyd turned out to be a good witness for Garcia."

Noel said that if Boyd was killed on the orders of prison staff, it didn't
involve Garcia or his other clients.

At Susanville, FBI agents are trying to determine if the shooting death of
Torres in the recreation yard was justified. According to corrections
officials, the 29-year-old inmate from Orange County belonged to a Latino
gang and was involved in a melee with eight fellow gang members against 10
rivals. Torres was kicking the head of an inmate, who was on the ground,
when an officer fired the fatal shot, corrections officials say.

8 Guards Plead Not Guilty

As the FBI probes at Susanville and Pelican Bay get underway, the
investigation at Corcoran continues. On Wednesday, Corcoran Officers
Timothy Dickerson, 38, Michael Gipson, 43, and Raul Tavarez, 38, and Sgt.
Truman Jennings, 37, were charged with purposely releasing a black inmate
into a recreation yard with two rival Latino inmates. The defendants
allegedly goaded the Latino gang members by telling them that they should
keep the fights "one on one."

Lt. Douglas Martin, 54, Sgt. John Vaughn, 42, and Officers Christopher
Bethea, 33, and Jerry Arvizu, 30, were charged with placing prisoner Tate
and his cellmate into a yard with rival gang members. They did this
although they were aware that a fight was likely to occur, prosecutors
allege.

In a videotape of the shooting captured by prison cameras, Tate and his
cellmate are seen waiting for the charge of the two Latino gang members.
The tape shows shots being fired by Officer Bethea and Tate being hit in
the head by a bullet apparently intended for the aggressors.

Jennings, Dickerson, Gipson and Tavarez face 10 years in prison and fines
of $250,000 each if convicted of the civil rights violations. Martin,
Vaughn, Bethea and Arvizu face life terms if convicted of civil rights
violations and their roles in Tate's death.

"The fact that the state of California is paying for the legal defense of
these officers shows that they were acting within the scope of their
authority," said Mike Jimenez, vice president of the state correctional
peace officers association. "Apparently the feds haven't had much success
with prosecuting criminals, so now they're starting to prosecute cops."

LA Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this report.