Closing Arguments in Prison Guards’ Trial

The trial of three prison guards accused of fatally beating a death row inmate neared conclusion as closing arguments were presented.

Defense attorneys told the jury in Starke that inmates who testified against the guards were offered special treatment or coerced, and shouldn’t be trusted.

But prosecutors said the inmates’ testimony and testimony from medical experts and other witnesses should be enough to convict Timothy Thornton, 36; Charles Brown, 28; and Jason Griffis, 28.

The guards face life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder in the July 1999 beating death of Frank Valdes, who was on death row for killing a guard while trying to free another inmate in 1987.

Prosecutors say guards attacked Valdes to stop him from contacting reporters about inmate abuse.

The guards told investigators Valdes fatally injured himself by diving onto the concrete floor or that he may have been killed by five other guards set to be tried later.