Guards Say Inmate Concocted His Story

Two Corcoran State Prison guards accused of setting up the rape of former inmate Eddie Dillard testified Friday that Dillard concocted his entire story and that they had no way of knowing he would be assaulted and raped when they moved him into another inmate’s cell.

Officers Anthony Sylva and Dale Brakebill say they were not aware that the new cellmate, Wayne Robertson, was the notorious Booty Bandit, a convicted murderer with a long history of raping his cellmates.

“I didn’t know who Mr. Wayne Robertson was at the time,” Sylva told a Superior Court jury. “It’s not like they’re Charles Manson or something.”

Sylva said he first learned of Robertson’s reputation five years after the alleged rape while reading a Los Angeles Times story.

Sylva and Brakebill are among four correctional officers accused of aiding and abetting the March 1993 rape of Dillard. Prosecutors allege that the guards orchestrated the attack for one of two reasons: to punish Dillard for kicking a female guard at another prison or to reward Robertson for his work as an inmate enforcer.

Dillard, who weighed 118 pounds, said he could not fight off Robertson, who is 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 pounds.

But Sylva and Brakebill said Dillard wasn’t telling the truth last week when he testified that he told officers he and Robertson were documented enemies and that he was in danger of being raped.

“He never said anything like that. That would have stopped [the cell move] right there,” said Sylva, 36, who is now a sergeant at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. “He’s accusing us of unacceptable practices that I know I don’t engage in.”

Last week, Robertson testified that he had asked for Dillard to be moved to his cell after Brakebill told him Dillard had been transferred to Corcoran from another prison.

Brakebill, however, testified that no such conversation took place.

“I wouldn’t talk to Wayne Robertson about where another inmate was housed,” he told the jury. “It would create a dangerous situation for one or both of the inmates.”

Defense attorneys began presenting their side of the case earlier this week and have called more than a dozen witnesses to attest to the good character of all four officers.

The witnesses, who have included a Clovis city councilman, a pastor, a highway patrolman, next-door neighbors and numerous fellow guards, described the officers as men of integrity who stood out as Corcoran’s best.

Brakebill, 34, a father of three and a Bakersfield native, was portrayed as a loyal member of his local Masonic lodge and a community soccer coach.

“I was raised to be strong of character, and I was raised to be truthful and honest,” he testified, looking straight at the jury.

On Thursday, accused Officer Joe Sanchez was the first guard to testify in the five-week trial, saying Dillard never warned him that his life was in danger.

“Dillard said, ‘Me and this dude don’t get along,’ ” Sanchez recalled. “He made the comment, ‘What am I doing here?’ which I thought was very strange.

“I asked him what his name was. He followed up with, ‘Why am I in here?’ ”

Dillard told him, “I need a cell change,” said Sanchez, 38.

The officers testified that inmates frequently request cell changes but that individual guards cannot approve a move unless it is an emergency.

It is not known whether the fourth officer, Sgt. Robert Decker, will testify. Prosecutors say that Decker, 41, ordered the cell move and later led the effort to cover up the rape, allegedly threatening Dillard that if he didn’t drop a complaint with prison administrators, Decker would put Dillard back into Robertson’s cell.

Closing arguments are expected next week. If convicted, the guards each face up to nine years in prison.