HATTIESBURG -- Attorneys defending Harrison County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Gaston refute the allegations against him today as testimony resumes in the eighth day of a federal trial alleging a pattern of inmate abuse at the county jail in Gulfport.
Government witnesses and testimony Tuesday by co-defendant Ryan Teel implicate Gaston in a conspiracy to deprive inmates' rights through intimidation, taunts and the use of excessive, unnecessary force. Eight former jailers have accepted plea bargains to cooperate with the prosecution, but only five of them have been called to the witness stand.
Trial attorneys have described Teel as "setting the tone" for inmate abuse and cover-ups and claimed Gaston "led the charge."
Teel, whose charges include the fatal beating of inmate Jessie Lee Williams Jr. in February 2006, echoed other witnesses' descriptions of a "brotherhood" among male and female officers who worked in the booking room.
On Tuesday, Teel said he coined the phrase, "brothers of another mother," when he started working at the jail with his close friend and cousin, Jerred Necaise. Teel said other officers in the close-knit group began to refer to themselves the same way. Teel wept as he talked about his cousin, who has since died in a traffic accident.
Gaston was not present the night of Williams' fatal beating. But witnesses have said he assaulted inmates Timothy Oliver on Oct. 10, 2003, and Chelle Abrams on Aug. 9, 2005. Teel also is accused in Abrams' assault.
Former jailers have testified of other inmate assaults, but the ones involving Oliver and Abrams, link Gaston to the conspiracy to abuse inmates. Gaston also is accused of knowing about unnecessary force, encouraging its use and supporting officers in covering their acts with false or vague reports.
Witnesses have said inmates also were abused in the cell blocks, the areas that house inmates who can't bond out from a holding cell in the booking area.
Ex-jailer Morgan Thompson, who has a plea agreement with the government, testified that he ordered inmates to perform "naked jumping jacks" in the exercise yard while he worked in a cell block. Thompson said he was taught to do that in academy training in Littleton, Colo. The theory, he said, was if they were hiding anything "in their butts," it would fall out while they exercised.
The Sun Herald is in Hattiesburg covering the trial and provides updates throughout the day and online in Thursday's editions.
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