The homicide trial of three former corrections officers charged within the lethal beating of inmate Robert Brooks began earlier this week. Mathew Galliher, Nicholas Kieffer, and David Kingsley face expenses of homicide and first-degree manslaughter.
Physique digital camera footage partially captured the assault on the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024.
In his opening assertion, Onondaga County (NY) District Legal professional William Fitzpatrick instructed jurors they’d see “huge proof” that the officers meant to trigger hurt to Brooks.
Fitzpatrick described the incident to the jurors, accusing the boys of pinning Brooks down as they took turns beating him and pepper-spraying him. Brooks was transferred to Marcy from a close-by jail the place he had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017.
“They now not have been corrections officers. They have been a gang,” Fitzpatrick stated in his opening assertion.
The movies, which garnered public outrage, present officers beating Brooks within the chest with a shoe, lifting him by the neck, and dropping him.
Protection attorneys stated the proof will display the officers didn’t act with malice or “wicked indifference to human life.”
“The prosecution is trying to tie Nicholas Kieffer to the actions of others, suggesting to you that he’s in some way accountable through affiliation,” stated his legal professional, David Longeretta, ABC Information reported.
Galliher’s legal professional, Kevin Luibrand, stated his consumer solely shackled Brooks to forestall him from kicking, however Galliher didn’t participate within the actions that led to Brooks’ demise.
“Mathew Galliher didn’t hurt Robert Brooks. He didn’t hit him, he didn’t strike him, he didn’t encourage others to strike him, he didn’t deny him medical care,” Luibrand stated as reported by ABC Information. “He didn’t do something that contributed to the demise of Robert Brooks.”
Prosecutors charged seven different jail guards in reference to the case. Six of them have accepted plea offers.
If convicted, the three former officers might face in life in jail, based on the (Utica, NY) Observer-Dispatch.
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