Union Gets Court Order Restricting Prison Probe

The union representing state prison guards has won a temporary restraining order restricting state investigators who are probing allegations of set-up rapes of inmates at Corcoran State Prison.

The move by the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. to handcuff the investigation comes at the same time the Wilson administration has agreed to grant a raise of up to 12% to prison guards, citing the union’s cooperative attitude in labor negotiations.

Agents from the state attorney general’s office, the Department of Corrections and the FBI have been conducting a renewed criminal investigation into the 1993 rape of inmate Eddie Dillard at Corcoran.

After a Times story last month on alleged rapes set up by prison guards, state and local authorities came under criticism for not thoroughly investigating the Dillard rape by an inmate enforcer nicknamed “the Booty Bandit.”

Last week, partly in response to criticism of the initial investigation, state agents returned to Corcoran with a tougher attitude. They called in more than 20 prison officers who they believed had knowledge of the Dillard rape, barring the officers from bringing in any union representatives for the interviews. As well, attorneys for the guards union were prevented from even stepping foot onto the grounds of the San Joaquin Valley prison.

Citing state government code section 3304(a), Corcoran warden George Galaza told officer witnesses to cooperate with investigators or be walked off the job for insubordination, according to court documents.

As part of the Corrections Department’s new stance, any officer who was a target of the probe would be “placed in handcuffs and arrested” if he failed to cooperate, according to documents filed by the union.

The union quickly objected to the tactics, which the Department of Corrections had hesitated to employ in the past. Seeking to halt compelled testimony without union representatives present, the union Monday sought a temporary restraining order in San Francisco Superior Court.

Judge Raymond Williamson granted the request after the union argued that the lack of union representation was a denial of fundamental rights. The judge set a Sept. 4 hearing on the union’s request for a permanent injunction against the state.

“[The officers] just know they are being treated like dogs,” said Michael L. Rains, an attorney representing the union. “The Department of Corrections folks were threatening witnesses. They weren’t telling them they were witnesses. The targets showed up not knowing whether they were witnesses or targets.”

Rains did not dispute the state’s authority to compel officers to talk in a criminal case, but he said officers had a constitutional right to representation.

The reason state agents don’t want union representatives present during interviews is a concern that criminal targets will be tipped off about the nature of the probe and the questions being asked.

“It’s not going to stop or block our investigation and we plan to go fight it for the Department of Corrections,” said Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

During a previous investigation in 1997 requested by Gov. Pete Wilson, corrections officials told investigators they could not use 3304(a) as a tool to coax information from officers.

The court action came two days after the union, which represents 27,000 full-time guards and other prison employees, reached a tentative contract agreement with Wilson’s negotiators.

The legal confrontation between the attorney general’s office and the union began to build Friday--the day Lungren was being interviewed by top union officials for a possible union endorsement of Lungren’s gubernatorial campaign.

The union has given $667,000 to Wilson in recent years and $159,000 to Lungren.

The focus of the attorney general’s probe is inmate Wayne Robertson, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound prison enforcer with a record of more than a dozen rapes inside Corcoran and other prisons, according to documents and testimony at a recent legislative hearing.

The 120-pound Dillard was repeatedly raped by Robertson after Dillard angered prison guards for kicking at a female officer, according to state investigative documents.

Robertson admitted to state agents last year that he had raped Dillard at the behest of Corcoran officers, who wanted to punish Dillard, and that he received extra food and tennis shoes from staff.

On Tuesday, Dillard and one of the officers who had knowledge of the rape and cover-up were scheduled to appear before the Kings County Grand Jury hearing evidence on the allegations.

Corrections Director Cal Terhune vowed that the investigation would go forward and said that no rights of officers had been violated.

“I don’t think there’s been any miscues,” Terhune said. “People may not like it, but I don’t think we’ve violated anyone’s rights, nor do we plan on it.”