{"id":28441,"date":"2016-12-15T16:16:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T00:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=28441"},"modified":"2016-12-15T16:16:35","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T00:16:35","slug":"federal-jury-convicts-prison-guard-of-kicking-inmate-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=28441","title":{"rendered":"Federal Jury Convicts Prison Guard of Kicking Inmate to Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A federal jury on Thursday convicted Brian Coll<\/strong>, former correction officer At Rikers Island, of beating to death inmate Ronald Spear by repeatedly kicking him in the head, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: \u00a0\u201cToday, a unanimous jury in Manhattan federal court affirmed that the protections of the U.S. Constitution extend into the walls of our prisons, including Rikers Island.\u00a0 For his brutal and heartless beating of 52-year-old Ronald Spear, a sickly Rikers inmate, and his lies to cover it up, Brian Coll now stands convicted of serious federal crimes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding, \u00a0“As the evidence at trial established, Coll killed Spear by repeatedly kicking him in the head as he lay restrained on the ground, telling him before he died not to forget who did this to him.\u00a0 The FBI investigators and career prosecutors on this case did not forget.\u00a0 And today, neither did the jury.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Coll, 47, kicked the inmate in the head while he was restrained and lying prone on the floor in violation of his rights under the constitution. Spear died shortly after the attack, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coll was arrested on a complaint on June 10, 2015, and has been in federal custody since that time. \u00a0He was convicted after a 10-day trial.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska will sentence Coll in April.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the evidence introduced at trial:<\/span><\/p>\n

Rikers Island is a jail complex, located in the Bronx, New York, maintained by the New York City Department of Correction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rikers-Island-007\"\u00a0At the time of his death, Spear was a pretrial detainee incarcerated on Rikers Island in the North Infirmary Command, a facility housing detainees who, like Spear, have serious or chronic medical needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In the early morning hours of December 19, 2012, Spear left the housing area in the infirmary unit in an attempt to see the on-duty doctor but was stopped by Coll, who said that the doctor was not available to see him.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In an altercation that ensued, Coll punched Spear several times in the face and stomach, and Spear was then restrained by two other correction officers, Anthony Torres and Byron Taylor.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

While Mr. Spear was lying prone on the ground and was still restrained, COLL repeatedly kicked Spear in the head, even after Torres attempted to shield the inmate\u2019s head with his hand and shouted to Coll to stop.\u00a0 After Coll stopped kicking Mr. Spear, Coll lifted Spear\u2019s head up, told him to remember who had done this to him, and then dropped Spear\u2019s head to the ground. \u00a0Spear was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the assault.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spear\u2019s autopsy was conducted at the Bronx Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The autopsy revealed that Spear had at least three recent contusions on his skull, and that he had suffered a \u201cbrain bleed\u201d caused by blunt force trauma to the head, consistent with Spear being kicked in the head while he was lying prone on the ground. Spear suffered a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of the head trauma.\u00a0 The assault by Coll was therefore, as the jury found, the cause of Spear\u2019s death.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Spear\u2019s death, Coll, Taylor, Torres and others, covered up the true cause of Spear\u2019s death by concocting a false story that turned Spear into the aggressor, falsely claiming that Spear had attacked Coll with a cane. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"U.S.Specifically, Coll falsely claimed that Spear had attacked him with a cane, and Torres agreed to support this false version of events and further agreed not to not relay that Coll had repeatedly kicked Spear in the head.\u00a0 Additionally, at the request of Taylor, Coll , Torres, and an additional correction officer agreed to falsely claim that Taylor was not present for the incident.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Consistent with their agreement, the conspirators filed false use of force reports with the Department of Correction and lied repeatedly to Department of Correction supervisors, investigators, and to the Bronx District Attorney\u2019s Office, according to the evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conspirators propagated this false version of events after being advised by a Rikers captain to be consistent in the use of force reports the officers were required to submit following Spear\u2019s death.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, when no cane was recovered from the crime scene \u2013 potentially calling into doubt Coll’s claim that Spear had attacked him with a cane \u2013 a Rikers captain simply directed a correction officer to take a cane from a supply area and to pass it off to investigators as the cane used in the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"criminal_justice_jurisprudenceColl, of Smithtown, New York, was convicted of one count of death resulting from deprivation of rights under color of law, which carries a maximum penalty of \u00a0life in prison or death, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, one count of filing false forms, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to file false forms, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Byron Taylor, 32, of Brentwood, New York, has pled guilty to one count of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anthony Torres, 50 of New Rochelle, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and file false reports, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of filing a false report, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK A federal jury on Thursday convicted Brian Coll, former correction officer At Rikers Island, of beating to death inmate Ronald Spear by repeatedly kicking him in the head, according to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal Jury Convicts Prison Guard of Kicking Inmate to Death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal jury convicted Brian Coll, former correction officer At Rikers Island, of beating to death inmate Ronald Spear by kicking him in the head.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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