Trial has been delayed until fall in the case of jail guards charged in the death of pretrial defendant Quantez Burks in West Virginia’s Southern Regional Jail.
The trial of six officers implicated in the jail death had been set to start July 29 in Beckley.
Now, following an order filed last week, the trial is delayed until 8:30 a.m. Oct. 8.
A lawyer for one of the guards, Mark Holdren, asked for additional time to prepare because of the large amount of evidence to be reviewed. “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,” wrote U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in a June 13 order approving the request to continue the trial schedule.
Five former correctional officers — Holdren, Ashley Toney, Cory Snyder, Johnathan Walters and Jacob Boothe — have been charged in connection with an assault on Burks, identified in the court filing only by his initials.
All five corrections officers, as well as a former lieutenant, Chad Lester, were also charged for covering up the use of unlawful force.
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.
The request by Holdren’s lawyer to delay the trial date indicates that in addition to the amount of evidence to comb through, the defense needs time to assess potential expert testimony. The filing indicates that could include forensic testimony “as to the injuries and cause of death of Quantez Burks.
More testimony could focus on training provided to corrections officers on use of force, defensive tactics and report writing.
“Mr. Holdren requires additional time to evaluate the anticipated testimony from these government witnesses and to obtain and consult with qualified experts to address the issues for which the government intends to offer opinion testimony,” wrote the lawyer for Holdren.
The motion to delay the trial was not opposed by federal prosecutors or by Snyder, Lester, Boothe or Toney. Walters did not join the motion to continue.
Two more corrections officers, Andrew Fleshman and Steven Nicholas Wimmer, last November pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens under federal code because of their actions in the death of Burks.
Fleshman and Wimmer had been scheduled for sentencing June 20 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Lawyers for each recently entered motions to delay their sentencing, saying the jail guards had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and to testify about what happened in the jail. The motions suggest it would make sense to schedule sentencing after the trial of the other officers.
An order entered this week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia moves the sentencing hearing to 10 a.m. Nov. 1.
Representatives for Wimmer last weeks submitted a memorandum that may be used to determine an appropriate sentence. The memorandum makes a case for leniency, saying Wimmer, now age 25, was a young, impressionable jail guard who used poor judgment.
“Mr. Wimmer, age 22 at the time, was among the youngest, least experienced officers present and the incident report that he submitted to investigators was drafted under the direct supervision of a senior correctional officer,” his lawyer wrote. “Mr. Wimmer has since provided the government with a more accurate account and has stated that he felt pressured to stress certain factors and downplay other factors.
“He was ‘bullied’ by the older COs following the incident and feared retaliation against himself and his family if he did not do so as ordered. Mr. Wimmer has attempted to mitigate his lesser role in this incident by providing truthful and detailed testimony to investigators and the U.S. Attorneys office.”