HATTIESBURG -- After attorneys for James Ricky "Rick" Gaston rested their case, the federal government this afternoon offered a rebuttal with incriminating evidence against him.
While Gaston was on the witness stand, he testified that he was not aware that inmate Only Al-Khidir had been abused and did not see a picture of him that numerous officers said they viewed on a computer at the jail and on pictures posted around the booking area.
The government put Special Agent Joel Wallace, of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, on the witness stand and he narrated a videotaped recording and identified two different people who visited with the sheet-covered inmate afterward.
Wallace said the two are Capt. Steve Campbell, who ran the professional standards unit, and Gaston, who was captain over the booking room.
U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. meets this evening with the attorneys to discuss jury instructions. The judge will go over instructions with the attorneys in open court Thursday at 9 a.m.
The jury was dismissed for the evening and was told to return at 10 a.m. The trial has been under way since Aug. 6. Teel and Gaston are accused of conspiring to deprive inmates rights through unnecessary force and coverups.
The Sun Herald is in Hattiesburg covering the trial. Check sunherald.com for updates on the trial and in Thursday's print editions for full coverage.
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