LOS ANGELES – A former jail inmate told a downtown jury Friday that two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies beat him unconscious while he was handcuffed, apparently because he had thrown milk cartons at one of them to get his attention.
Bret Phillips, 44, of Lancaster told the panel that he lobbed the cartons at deputy Joey Aguiar on the morning of Feb. 11, 2009, because the guard had left him tightly handcuffed to a waist chain inside his cell at Men’s Central Jail instead of taking him to a scheduled medical appointment.
“I was just standing there, shackled in my cell,” Phillips testified. “He just left me standing there. I was in pain.”
One of the cartons struck Aguiar’s shoe, the witness said, and he was brought out of his cell and ordered to face a wall.
“I just had that feeling that something was going to happen,” the soft-spoken Phillips said. “I was nervous. I knew I did something wrong by throwing the milk cartons.”
Phillips said he could tell he was in trouble by the “demeanor” of Aguiar and fellow deputy Mariano Ramirez, the two defendants in the civil rights case playing out in Los Angeles federal court.
At that point, the witness testified, his head was “slammed” into the wall, Ramirez placed him in a chokehold and he blacked out.
“Could you protect yourself from punches or kicks,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mack Jenkins asked.
Phillips responded, “No, I couldn’t.”
The former inmate — who told the jury that he suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and had been incarcerated at the jail for about three weeks at the time for an alleged probation violation — said he came to consciousness on a gurney surrounded by deputies as he was being taken to a medical facility for treatment of his injuries.
On a 10-minute sheriff’s department videotape played for the panel, a squirming, battered and still-handcuffed Phillips is shown as he is transferred from the gurney to a hospital bed while being questioned by sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Barbosa.
During the interview, Phillips is heard telling a second sheriff’s official that he had perhaps “deserved” the beating as a result of unrelated events that took place while he previously was in a state prison.
“I’m not trying to get nobody in trouble or none of that,” Phillips says on the video. “I got what I had coming.”
Under Jenkins’ questions, Phillips testified that he told the sergeant and lieutenant “what they wanted to hear” in order to get back to his cell without further trouble.
“I was scared of retaliation — I didn’t want them to do that to me again,” Phillips said on the stand.
Phillips was eventually placed in the “hole,” in which he had limited contact with others, and released from jail about a week later.
He said that nobody ever followed up with him about the incident until October 2011 when two sheriff’s officials came to his home and asked for his version of the event.
In February 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Aguiar and Ramirez on civil rights charges for allegedly striking the chained and cuffed Phillips with fists, feet and a flashlight, then trying to cover up the incident by preparing false police reports.
Aguiar and Ramirez face several criminal counts, including conspiring to violate federal civil rights, deprivation of rights under color of law that caused injuries, and preparing a false report.
The false report states, among other things, that Phillips had attempted to head butt Aguiar’s face and had violently kicked at the deputy, according to prosecutors.
If convicted as charged, the deputies — who are on unpaid leave from the department — each face more than 10 years in federal prison.
Aguiar and Ramirez are the latest of nearly two-dozen current and former sheriff’s employees to be tried by federal authorities in connection with the FBI’s multi-year investigation into brutality and other misconduct in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at a time when Lee Baca was sheriff.
The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, in Courtroom 14, U.S. District Court, 312 N. Spring Street.
Previous related stories:
Chaplain tells L.A. jury of seeing jail guards punching ‘unconscious’ inmate
Ex-sheriff’s deputies go on trial for alleged inmate assault
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rouselle says
First off why would you throw a milk carton at the officers knowing you are already in jail for comnitting a crime you are not one special person. You commit crimes but then you want ti be protected and treated good get iut if here with that kaka
Bbb says
First off..you hadn’t read the whole story. He was in for a probation violation . not a crime.
[removed] people man. Is this world really that desensitized?
R2-d2 says
Being beat by sheriffs or inmates is wrong. It is there job to protect us from ourselves and others. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen lawsuits about man rapes in jail.
Squeaky says
Ahh, boohoo, you were treated bad while you were in prison. The world is overpopulated, just exterminate the inmates with all there rights even though they violated other people’s to land in jail. Amazing how I have lived 46 years on this planet and never had a negative contact with law enforcement.
TIMSCOTT4MAYOR says
How do you know he violated other people’s rights to land in jail? He was in jail for probation violation, does that warrant a viscous beating by uniformed THUGS?
Danny says
Yes it does should happen everyday, any luck you’ll end up their.
Flint says
You’re not a schizo mental patient wandering around using drugs and stealing. If you were, you’d probably throw milk at people and act stunned when they beat the heck out of you. In all seriousness though, these officers were way out of line if the accusations are true.
AV-East Kern Second Chance says
@Squeaky… please don’t be a martyr as you know you’ve made mistakes in your life that would put you in a jail cell, but haven’t gotten caught yet. I commend this gentleman for reporting the inhumane treatment he received. Hopefully Gloria will make the case into a class action lawsuit. I know plenty of female inmates that were beaten down by deputies at the Lynwood facility and Twin Towers. Glad we have Sheriff McDonald.
realitycheck says
Easy there Michelle. Put down the bottle and stop drunk-dialing the watch commander at 2:13am. Not sure who “Sheriff McDonald” is, but Sheriff McDonnell doesn’t want to hear your BS either! Most of us avoid being pushed around in jail by……. Wait for it………. STAYING OUT OF JAIL!
Mark says
If you read this article, Mr. Phillips went on with his life without a second thought of this situation. It was the authorities that came to his residence to find out the true story. When you’re in an authority type of role like these two deputies were, you’re held at a higher standard. These two deputies had training to handle these situations. When has it ever been okay to beat somebody chained up with flashlights? These are not gangsters, they’re peace officers! If I read this article correctly, Mr. Phillips did 3 weeks on probation violation. which means his offence wasn’t a violent crime against somebody. If these two deputies where in the right, why did they feel the need to falsify their reports? It’s not about being treated bad in prison (he wasn’t in prison, he was in county jail. Yes there is a difference). How can you trust a person who is suppose to be the example, if they’re the ones breaking the rules?
Mark says
It doesn’t what you think of this victim. What these two deputies did was illegal. My question to you. What don’t you understand about illegal?
AV-East Kern Second Chance says
@Squeaky… maybe the deputy can “milk” the system by claiming an injury from being assaulted by a milk carton and get workman’s comp at the tax payers expense. But wait, he’ll be going to prison and the taxpayers will be paying for his stay. The bad cops make the good ones look bad.
GustavoAmadoeVar says
How can one “lob” a milk carton, with handcuffs on a waist chain that are painfully tight?..?…
Squeaky says
Amazing how you could not read that he admitted to throwing the milk carton….
Squeaky says
Ah, I think you were saying he was not painfully chained because he lobbed the milk carton, amazing how I read it wrong… Oops.
HatetheAV says
I would literally pay good money just to be on the jury during the trial of some dirty cops. Cops are always big men when they have weapons and backup or they have bars separating them from the people they abuse for a living. have fun in prison, officers.
saul says
I have been in the county jail previous time and have witnessed and even
Had an experience with a deputy smack me in my head while handcuffed
They did it a lot simply because the fact that they
Feel they can get away with it I hope they go to mainline
To see how tough they are when the person they are being tough with isn’t handcuffed
Hope they get what they deserve