LOS ANGELES – Opposing attorneys on Friday painted conflicting pictures of injuries suffered seven years ago by a shackled, mentally ill Men’s Central Jail inmate who was brought to the ground, punched and pepper-sprayed by two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies now facing civil rights charges that could land them behind prison walls for at least a decade.
In closing arguments in the federal trial of jail deputies Joey Aguiar and Mariano Ramirez, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that inmate Bret Phillips suffered at least some injuries on Feb. 11, 2009.
The jury was tasked with determining the extent of those injuries and whether they were the result of excessive force.
The prosecution contends that Aguiar and Ramirez set upon Phillips in a gang-style beat-down as retribution for showing disrespect.
Defense lawyers maintain that Phillips was combative and threatening, and their clients did only what was legally necessary to gain control of the inmate.
At the conclusion of the attorneys’ summations, the case went to the jury, which deliberated two hours before adjourning home for the weekend. Discussions are scheduled to resume Monday morning.
“What they did was beat a man and they used their badge to do it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams told the panel. “And now they’re trying to use that badge to get away with it. Do not let them.”
A four-count indictment alleges the deputies kicked Phillips in the head and upper body, struck him with a flashlight, pepper-sprayed him in the face and then covered up their actions in official reports that could have been used to charge the inmate with assault on the deputies.
The reports said Phillips was violent toward the lawmen and refused their orders.
“Their entire version of events is false,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mack Jenkins said. “They’re exaggerating to paint Bret Phillips as some kind of violent animal.”
The defendants did not take the stand during eight days of testimony that included two alleged eyewitnesses and Phillips himself.
“If you want to know the words of Joey Aguiar, you have them in front of you,” defense attorney Evan Jenness told the panel, referring to her client’s contested use-of-force report.
The document, she said, describes “line by line exactly what Bret Phillips did and exactly what (Aguiar) did in response.”
According to the defense, Phillips sparked the run-in as he was being escorted back to his cell after a medical appointment. As he was brought down a hallway, his hands cuffed to a waist chain, Phillips swore at Aguiar — then a 21-year-old rookie — refused to follow orders and attempted to head-butt the officer.
“Restrained punches” were used only to “gain control of a recalcitrant inmate in trying to get him back to his cell,” Jenness said.
The force, she said, was “appropriate” and “proportionate” to Phillips’ behavior. His injuries, she said, were “minimal.”
Prosecutors, however, allege that Phillips was unconscious for most of the event, in which he was said to have suffered a head wound, blunt force trauma to the legs and elbow, and back and spinal cord injuries.
Jenness, though, described Phillips’ injuries as not more than “a little scratch on his forehead.” The “minor extent” of the inmate’s injuries disproves the prosecution’s allegations of excessive force, the defense attorney argued.
In his testimony, Phillips said that at the outset of the incident, in which he was ordered to face a wall, he was choked into unconsciousness by one of the defendants and has no memory of being hit and sprayed.
A jail chaplain and a state prisoner who was then an inmate at the facility told the jury that they were hidden in shadows just feet away from Phillips and the deputies, watching the incident unfold.
The memory was “beat into my brain,” said John Maestaz, the inmate witness. “It was a memory I can see frame-by-frame in my mind — because it was that fierce of a beating.”
Catholic minister Paulino Juarez testified that he also witnessed Aguiar and Ramirez pummeling the handcuffed, unresisting Phillips, leaving the man in a puddle of blood.
“These deputies used restraint,” defense attorney Vicki Podberesky told the jury Friday. “If they wanted to use great force, they could have.”
Podberesky urged the panel to acquit the deputies.
“It’s been seven years,” she said in her closing argument. “Let these two gentlemen have justice.”
Aguiar and Ramirez are the latest of 21 current and former sheriff’s officials to be tried by federal authorities in connection with the FBI’s multi-year investigation into brutality and other misconduct in the sheriff’s department.
The probe goes as high as former undersheriff Paul Tanaka, who faces trial in March on conspiracy charges for allegedly managing a secret plan in 2011 to “hide” an inmate-turned-informant from FBI handlers during the jails probe.
Previous related stories:
Closing arguments begin in trial of deputies accused of assaulting inmate
Witness testifies to seeing jail guards beat handcuffed inmate
Ex-inmate tells jury of being left bloody and unconscious by jail guards
Chaplain tells L.A. jury of seeing jail guards punching ‘unconscious’ inmate
Ex-sheriff’s deputies go on trial for alleged inmate assault
–
Carolyn says
To just looking for a payday, this has nothing to do with how his parents raised him. He’s mentally I’ll, he probably giant even a real criminal. Who is to say that his actions weren’t misconstrued to begin with and that’s why he was in jail? You someday might find yourself in trouble with that kind of an attitude. You would hope you run across officers like this. The cops are the guilty ones. How else would he have gotten those injuries?
Mike C says
i was in LA County jail a time or two myself and got to witness beatings like this firsthand myself. On I will never forget was when a door popped open within twenty or so feet from the holding cell I was in. Two of LA’s finest brought a guy in that was handcuffed at the waist and he had a pillowcase over his head. They walked him into the cell next to the one I was in and at the same time 4 more LA County deputies came over to the cell. All six of the cops went into the cell and beat this guy for at least a minute or so. You could tell that the guy was unconscious within seconds but they kept beating and stomping on the guy for what seemed like forever. I remember one of the cops telling the others to spread his legs. Spread his legs. Then the other cops were saying “kick his balls”. Finally they stopped and it was dead quiet in that cell and ours too. We all thought we just witnessed 6 cops killing a guy. Then the cops stopped at our cell and said if any of us said a word they’d do the same thing to us. This [removed] happens on a daily basis down there. All you can do is turn your head to it though or the cops will beat or kill you while your there.
Zippey says
I totally believe it. And that is s3xual assault, if I have ever seen it. And they make guys with 16, 17 year old girlfriends register for the rest of their lives….
dumbandblind says
This should serve as a warning to those who choose to commit a crime. An eye for an eye. In countries were a thief gets their hands cut off, a rapist castrated and a child molester and murderer beheaded, countries where crimes rates are an all time low people safe walking in public at midnight. What rights are we all talking about. This is about safety- your family and mine. So sad that in a country wit protected by a constitution also gives criminals more excuse to do what they do best.
Zippey says
What planet do you live on? This is about a police force out of control. In this country people who break the law get sentenced to a loss of liberty. Renegade assault under the color of authority is believed to be found in the countries the United States of America feels the need to bomb into the 21 century.
maria says
even if a person goes to jail, doesn’t mean the officers are not doing the same as criminals on the streets. The only difference is that they hold a badge and it gives them that right. I guess if all inmate become officers of the law they can do the exact crime and get away with it. It really makes sense right? We do have many good officers of the law protecting us, be we can also see some that are just as bad as people in jail. Inmates are human and should be treated that way, especially mentally ill. I have a sibling in Kern County with paranoid schizophrenia hears voices and acts on them. now he is facing 7 assaults on peace officers. And has been in state hospital for his mental problem. But I guess he is worse than officers right?
Michelle Egberts says
Obviously the majority of you are uneducated to the US Constitution. An individual with a badge has no right to violate the law under the color. What if it were your child? Remember, we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. By the way… where are the cops pictures who violated this man. Wish them well in prison, it will be hell for them as they deserve it.
Just looking for a pay day says
His mom should have beat some sense into him when he was a child and he would not have been in that situation to begin with.
When you are in jail you have no rights and CRIMINALS should not be allowed to sue because they didn’t like the way that they were being treated. I am sure the people that this “man” committed the crime against didn’t feel that they were treated fairly.
Don’t act like an animal and you won’t be treated like one.
Let’s take a look at his actions and his record since the incident.
Tim Scott says
Ummmm…you do realize that “When you are in jail you have no rights” is a glaring outright lie, yes? Or are you really that totally misinformed?
troll hunter says
On this we agree…one’s rights are not suspended as a result of an arrest. If the LEO’s are incapable of protecting the rights of those under their charge, they should be removed post haste. If found guilty of a crime while serving under the color of the law, then they should be subject to a harsher punishment for abusing their authority/position. They should also be held civilly liable for their crimes, not the taxpayer. Absolutely no quarter…
Pumper says
No record.. Look at the facts.. He was in for a probation violation . no crime..if you have nothing nice to say ….don’t say it at all. Your mom should have tought you not to judge.
Julie says
You don’t get on probation by selling Girl Scout cookies you get on probation by breaking the law.
Mark says
You might get probation if you’re selling stolen girl scout cookies! I’ve known people you have gotten probation for traffic violations, or other minor things. There’s a book that states the average American commits 3 felonies in a single day. The same things is true for these deputies. Not only is illegal to beat somebody the way they did. They also falsified their official reports which is also illegal. In the laws eyes they did a lot worse then any crime that would receive probation. Remember probation is not parole, probation is sometimes a slap on the wrist. Honestly don’t understand how people keep saying the inmate broke the law (which is true). Those same people don’t realize that these two deputies broke the law.
Zippey says
65 million Americans (1 out of 4 American Adults) have a criminal record. A few select ones have received a sentence of probation. Have you any idea what is a crime in this country, a crime for which you should thank the lucky stars you only got probation for?
Irena says
http://civilrights.findlaw.com/other-constitutional-rights/rights-of-inmates.html
Inmates do have basic human rights.
Zippey says
Why on earth would they not? How is this news to anyone??
Irena says
It was in response to Just looking for a pay day claiming that inmates did not have any rights at all.
Mark says
The best way these two deputies could have avoided any trouble? They could have chosen not to break the law. They could have chosen to follow their protocol with this type problem. Instead they beat a defenseless person. It sounds like you’re about people following the law. Let me ask you this. Why is it OK for these two deputies to break the law, and you defend their actions? Do you know what crime this inmate committed? Does that even matter to you? If you’re basing your opinion of this inmate because he broke the law, why are you defending these two deputies. These two deputies broke the law. It makes me think, you think people of certain status are able to pick and chose the laws they follow. Why is that OK with you?