PORT ANGELES — A Clallam County jury convicted a Clallam Bay Corrections Center inmate on Thursday of fourth-degree assault for choking his cell mate because he was unhappy with his new living arrangement.
Andrew Evan Brady, 27, was charged in July with second-degree assault for the April 2006 attack, but the jury of six men and six women declined to convict on the more serious charge.
Brady is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15, and could face a maximum of an additional year in custody.
Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney said the verdict was at least a partial victory.
Deputy Prosecutor Carol Case said the verdict was a “mixed bag.”
“I’m not surprised,” she said.
“We had, `he-said, he-said.”‘
Public defender John Hayden said he wasn’t disappointed.
“That’s OK,” he said.
Brady’s early release date is 2008, after being convicted in 2002 of second-degree assault and attempted first-degree assault in Spokane County, Case said, adding that he has eight felony convictions on his record.
Debate over prosecutions
No matter the outcome, the appearance of a “prison case” on the Superior Court docket brought up a larger debate over the necessity of prosecuting people who are already locked up.
It’s a topic that has been addressed in the past.
Almost across the board, those who defend the men accused of assaulting other inmates or corrections officers say too much energy is wasted.
Those who prosecute them say the law applies to everyone and needs to be upheld.
Meanwhile, prison officials believe that a vigorous prosecution helps buttress the morale of officers and keeps the institutions safer.
Waste of money
“By and large the kinds of cases we see don’t need to be prosecuted and, frankly, are a waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Hayden, who represented Brady and who has about a half dozen other prison cases pending.
The cost of impaneling a jury, conducting a three-day trial, transporting the defendant and any witnesses from Clallam Bay and forgoing other cases that are in line for trial — not to mention his time — isn’t a small amount, he said.
“It adds up pretty darn quick.”
Inmate on inmate assaults are especially difficult, Hayden said, because often there are no witnesses willing to testify.
“How do you tell in this situation who did what to whom?” he said.
Hayden said some cases should be prosecuted, but that the prison can punish people with little or nothing to lose better than the courts.
Human rights
Harry Gasnick, director of Clallam Public Defenders, said some cases should be prosecuted.
He added, though, that there was “almost a random quality” to the cases that are prosecuted.
Case said it’s a matter of human rights.
“Being inside those walls doesn’t make people less human,” she said.
“Nobody deserves to get beat up, maimed or killed. Not officers, not inmates.”
Deputy Prosecutor Tim Davis doesn’t prosecute all of the prison’s cases, but currently he has about four pending, he said.
“I do get some of them,” Davis said.
Not all prison cases are crimes of violence, he said, listing cases in which inmates were charged with damaging property or attempting to escape.
He also said that being sentenced to prison, whether for a couple years or for life, doesn’t give a person immunity from prosecution.
The law is the law, he said.
“What message is sent to other inmates, or people in the community who work there?” Davis said.
“I don’t think it’s a good message, and that’s something we need to deal with.”
