NOTE FROM KAY LEE:
When inmates come forward to witness in matters such as these, they are putting themselves at great risk. It is highly unlikely that they step out with bogus information in the current and brutal climate of retaliation. They are NOT given special favors for their testimony, indeed, they are usually punished in a number of ways. If I were you, I'd keep my eyes on what happens toMichael Little, Glenn Painter, and Raymond Smith. Hopefully, your attention will keep them safe.
Inmates: Broward officers killed prisoner
3 reject account that man hit wall with his head
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/broward/digdocs/106720.htm
Published Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Inmates: Broward officers killed prisoner
Three reject account that man hit wall with his head
BY CHARLES SAVAGE
csavage@herald.comThree inmates in the North Broward Detention Center infirmary said Monday that they watched a team of Broward Sheriff's Office deputies beat and kick a prisoner to death, then clean the blood from his cell before taping off the scene last week.
John Beraglia, 41, had been on suicide watch in the jail's infirmary, Unit 12. On the afternoon of Sept. 16, bleeding from the head, he was taken to North Broward Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead./P>
In separate phone interviews, the three inmates offered an account of Beraglia's injuries that differs sharply from BSO's version. A Sheriff's Office news release the next day stated that Beraglia became agitated and struck ``his head against the corner of a wall within his cell when medical staff attempted to intervene.''
The inmates' accounts are in sync with what John Beraglia's brother Roy Beraglia -- a 19-year BSO veteran -- said he was told by colleagues the day after the death: that a number of deputies ``forcibly restrained'' his brother.
Detectives from both the homicide and internal affairs units of BSO are actively investigating, and the Broward Medical Examiner has yet to issue a report. A BSO spokeswoman said that until the investigations are complete, the agency can say little in response.
``If you have information from inmates, their statements should be given to detectives investigating this case in order to determine if in fact they are credible,'' Veda Coleman-Wright said. ``Were they eyewitnesses to this tragic incident, or are they simply providing you with bogus information? It's up to our trained professionals to determine fact from fiction and get to the truth.''
The inmate who said he had the best vantage point is Michael Little, 33. He said his cell faces Beraglia's, and e could clearly see the interior. The other two are Glenn Painter, 39, and Raymond Smith, 35. Their cells are farther to the side, giving them a view of the front of Beraglia's cell, but not inside.
MATCHING DETAILS
Their three accounts match on the following details:
Just past 3 p.m. on Sept. 16, John Beraglia told nurses and guards that he was having a heart attack. When he was ignored and then told to quiet down, he became agitated, shouting and banging on his door. A large number of guards went into his cell to handcuff and subdue Beraglia, intending to strap him into a restraint chair.
The inmates could not see clearly what happened inside the cell, but they heard a struggle. ``I couldn't see exactly in the room, because it's out of my view at that point, but there is some struggle going on in there, as you can hear the noises . . . bouncing up against walls or feet stomping, and then momentarily, he's dragged out of his cell,'' Smith said.
Beraglia was already bleeding from the head when they brought him out of his cell. A further struggle ensued as they attempted to strap him into the chair. Beraglia was choked and pushed face-down on the floor in front of his cell, then held with his legs spread-eagled by a number of guards, while others jumped on his back and kicked him.
At some point, the guards put a hood over Beraglia's head. A nurse gave him an injection in his buttocks as he lay on the ground. Eventually, the guards stood back and ordered him into the restraint chair. He did not respond. Paramedics arrived and tried to restart his heart with a defibrillator, but were unable to revive him. Beraglia was carried out on a stretcher. Several of the nurses and deputies became upset and left the area.
Blood from the cell was cleaned out before the crime scene tape was put up. One deputy took off a bloody uniform and returned half an hour later wearing clean inmate's clothing. Several days later, an officer who had been present during the incident repainted the interior of the cell, they said.
After the incident was over, Smith said he got a clear view of the inside of Beraglia's cell from the hallway, while he was waiting to be escorted out to see a visitor.
``I looked in John's cell and they have a trusty in there cleaning blood off the walls and placing things back in order,'' Smith said. ``As I'm sitting there, they put this yellow tape around the floor section.''
DIFFERING ACCOUNTS
Their accounts differ from each other in several respects. For example:
Little and Smith said they remembered that a trusty was the one who cleaned the cell out with a spray bottle. Painter remembered a deputy doing it.
Little said he remembers the hood was black. Smith and Painter said it was green.
All three witnesses have long criminal records with numerous arrests and convictions. Painter's offenses include a long string of check and credit-card fraud cases. Little's history ranges from loitering and prowling to aggravated assault, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of burglary tools with the intent to use them. Smith has been convicted of resisting arrest and aggravated assault, among other things.
Assistant Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said he does not believe the inmates are coming forward in order to leverage their own cases. Two of the three did not tell their attorneys with his office about what they had seen, instead contacting The Herald directly.
``There's been no request by our clients nor any attempt by our office to parlay this into a benefit for these defendants,'' Finkelstein said.
Beraglia was a large man, a chronic offender whose inability to function in society stemmed from brain damage he suffered in a motorcycle accident at age 16. He was habitually homeless and was well known in the Broward Public Defender's Office, with more than 145 convictions.
UNDER SUICIDE WATCH
Picked up on Sept. 12 for violation of probation on a criminal mischief charge, he was housed in the infirmary under a suicide watch after he tried to cut his wrists with a spoon.
Told of the inmates' accounts on Monday, his brother Roy Beraglia said: ``I'm not questioning the BSO's investigation or their integrity or veracity. It's just that I have an obligation to provide answers to family members. I'm sure BSO will conduct a proper investigation.''
An attorney for the Beraglia family, Mike Ryan, was present during The Herald's interviews with the three inmates Monday. He later wrote a letter to Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne expressing concerns that investigators had not interviewed all the potential eyewitnesses and that ``those detention deputies involved in the incident are still working and therefore come in contact with the inmate eyewitnesses.''
Said Painter: ``This scares me, and every minute of the day I think about it, and all I see is that body sitting there in that chair, all limp with that hood over it.''
Herald researcher Elisabeth Donovan contributed to this report.