A federal judge has again backed up the trial date for corrections officers charged in the death of a pretrial defendant at Southern Regional Jail.
Five former correctional officers — Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, Johnathan Walters, Jacob Boothe and Ashley Toney — have been charged in connection with an assault on pre-trial defendant Quantez Burks.
All five correctional officers, as well as a former lieutenant, Chad Lester, were also charged for covering up the use of unlawful force.
Six officers were indicted last Nov. 29. A trial in the case originally had been scheduled for Jan. 23. At the request of the defendants and without opposition from federal prosecutors, the judge then moved the trial date to April 30.
In a filing this week, U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin agreed to move the trial date again — now to 9 a.m. July 29 in Beckley. The judge cited the cases’s many complications.
“This case involves six defendants, seven defense attorneys, an 18-count indictment, voluminous discovery, and prosecution under a statute that exposes defendant Lester’s co-defendants to life in prison. The requested delay is not attributable to lack of diligent preparation, to failure to obtain evidence or witnesses, or to congestion of the court’s calendar,” Goodwin wrote.
A pretrial motions hearing now has been scheduled for 10 a.m. June 27 in Beckley.
Two jail guards already have pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens in the case surrounding Burks’s death. Corrections officers Andrew Fleshman and Steven Nicholas Wimmer entered those guilty pleas last November.
Their sentencing hearings have also been delayed until June 20.
The officers are accused of participating in the beating death of Burks in a “blind spot” not monitored by a surveillance system after he was restrained, handcuffed and in the custody of multiple officers.
Five of the officers are accused of playing direct roles in his death, depriving Burks of his civil rights, while another, Lester, is accused of taking part in a coverup.
Burks, 37, had only been in jail 24 hours. He had been arrested Feb. 28, 2022, and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer, allegations related to discharging a firearm at his home during an argument. He died March 1.
The central allegation is that after Burks tried to push past a corrections officer and leave the jail’s C-pod, officers restrained him in handcuffs and beat him in an interview room. The indictment alleges the officers forcibly walked him to the interview room that was already occupied by an inmate, who was ordered to leave.
The officers then repeatedly struck and assaulted Burks, the indictment alleges, before forcibly walking him to another location known as the A-pod and he collapsed on the floor. Even after that, the indictment alleges, the beatings continued.