UPDATE ON JANUARY 7, 2013 COURT PROCEEDINGS

On January 9 2013, Carrington Keys (one of the Dallas 6) had his day in federal court under the jurisdiction of Honorable Judge Richard Caputo.  Mr. Keys was the plaintiff in a civil suit against staff members of SCI Dallas for retaliation and abuse.  He was a Pro Se litigant and performed quite well according to courtroom visitors from Human Rights Coalition.  The trial lasted for 3 days.  Mr. Keys subpoenaed 5 prisoners as witnesses and some SCI Dallas staff members as well.  The prisoner witnesses gave insight into the abuse and torture that occur in solitary confinement and eyewitness testimony of what happened to Mr. Keys.  One prisoner witness,  Isacc Sanchez was court ordered to be removed from SCI Dallas because he was in fear for his life and receiving threats from guards during the trial.  All witnesses said they received threats from prison staff about testifying.  As well as prison guards filled the courtroom and attempted to intimidate Keys supporters by falsely accusing one of voice recording courtroom proceedings and another of taking pictures of the courtroom.  Someone also falsely alerted homeland security who placed some of the supporters under investigation due to their lies.  During lunch break the guards were seen lunching in the same restaurant as the jurors, which was probably intimidating.  In these small towns such as Dallas, the jails are usually the main income and if not for these prisons a lot of people would be out of work.  Therefore, they will do whatever to keep their jobs. The trial ended in a  mistrial.  The jury came out to talk to the Mr. Keys and the defendants lawyer.  They were able to ask questions as to how they viewed the case.  It was unanimous that they believed Mr. Keys was abused by the guards.  Their well known lie about camera malfunction did not work and was very  unbelievable to the jurors.  To clarify about the cameras, cameras are always used when they prison wants to prove something an inmate did, but when an inmate needs footage to prove their point, the camera has a malfunction.  This is an ongoing lie and tactic that the DOC uses to cover up its wrongdoings.  This time it didn't work.  Though they decided that he was abused, the jury  could not  decide that it was malicious.  I've never  heard of prisoners being abused for a good reason!  In my opinion, if they abused this man then it would have to be for a bad reason hence,  maliciousness and therefore retaliation.  Mr. Keys is a known jailhouse lawyer who has many cases against the DOC.  For this reason he has been buried in solitary for almost a decade and constantly starved and abused.    Mr. Keys retrial will be in June of 2013. We would like to pack the courtroom with supporters and media.   Any interested party please email  for updates to sd4hrc@gmail.com or post on the blog.   More information to follow.

A CALL TO ACTION

ACTION ALERT - PLEASE CALL OR WRITE

We need help in getting prisoner Duane Peter- FP7306 transferred out of SCI Dallas. Duane has been under ongoing harassment and abuse which has increasingly escalated. He has been at SCI Dallas for about 10 years with most of it spent in solitary confinement. In 2010, he and other prisoners were accused of riot after peacefully covering their cell windows in protest of retaliatory beatings of prisoners who sent abuse reports to HRC. All the other prisoners were emergency evacuated from Dallas after being beaten and tased for hours, but Peters was not.

Prior to and since that time he has been under constant attack. Now he is under excessive retaliation because he was a witness in a civil suit against staff members of SCI Dallas for abuse and retaliation. During the trial in January, the judge ordered another witness, Isaac Sanchez, to be removed because he was receiving threats as well. Since then, Peters has reported several incidents of retaliation and threats. Deputy Superintendent Mooney personally came to him and threatened him. They are hindering the legal process by tampering with mail, not notarizing legal docs, tampering with food and making threats and denying access to law library. They have tried to serve him raw or spoiled meats and eggs. They broke his glasses while he was at shower. He has exhausted grievances to no avail. He has reached out to Superintendent Walsh in the matter who has not made any effort to stop it since he is calling the shots.

Since the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent at SCI Dallas are participating in the retaliation, we need to first call the Secretary’s office. Then call SCI Dallas and let them know that we have called the Secretary’s office. Also, I am working on a letter to Secretary Wetzel’s office equesting Mr. Peters be moved.

Demand:
Mr. Peters be moved immediately so there is no conflict of interest with the ongoing litigation
Halt all attacks and threats against Mr. Peters immediately
Do not hinder the legal process
Do not tamper with mail
Take steps to give him the opportunity to be get out of solitary

Please contact:
Central Office
John E. Wetzel, Secretary (717) 728-4109
Shirley Moore Smeal, Executive Deputy Secretary (717) 728-4110
Michael Klopotoski, Deputy Secretary Eastern Region (717) 728-4122 or 4123

Then Contact:
SCI Dallas – (570) 675-1101
Jerome Walsh, Superintendent:
Vincent Mooney, Deputy Superintendent for Centralized Services:
Robin Lucas, Superintendent’s Assistant