[Pnews] Update on upcoming trial for Eric King

[Prisoner News]

CLDC to go to trial for Eric King CLDC attorneys Lauren Regan and Sarah 
Alvarez head to Colorado for Eric's evidentiary hearing


As we prepare for key upcoming court dates for our client Eric King, we 
wanted to provide some insight on what’s happening and why this case is 
so important. Due to some restrictions 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=65d62788b6&e=ee63b50338> 
around media and upcoming trials, we can’t say nearly as much about it 
as we’d like. However, you can educate yourself on its substance by 
visiting this resource page 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=46f1cc00eb&e=ee63b50338>, 
which includes links to all publicly-available court documents. Please 
take a look and share it with your networks. You can also follow Eric’s 
support crew 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=ec31f35787&e=ee63b50338> 
on Instagram 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=b806689251&e=ee63b50338>, 
Twitter 
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and Facebook 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=2d315a0a3f&e=ee63b50338>, 
and consider making a small contribution 
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=87ba6da911&e=ee63b50338> 
to support his legal defense fund by donating to CLDC and designate your 
contribution for “Eric King.”

*Background:*

Eric was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 for his actions in 
solidarity with the Black liberation uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri, 
and is scheduled to be released in 2023. However, he now faces a new 
federal criminal charge for allegedly “assaulting” a Bureau of Prisons 
(BOP) officer in self-defense in 2018, and faces up to 20 more years in 
prison if convicted. On Thursday, October 14, CLDC’s legal team will 
represent Eric at an evidentiary hearing in Colorado Federal Court where 
the Judge will rule on our Motion to Suppress Evidence regarding Eric’s 
coerced statements in the aftermath — determining whether the statements 
were involuntary as a result of torture and abuse he suffered at the 
hands of BOP Florence guards, among other issues. While we have a steep 
hill to climb, this evidentiary hearing is a monumental step forward in 
bringing the truth into the light of day. In addition to his upcoming 
criminal trial, CLDC is also representing Eric in a civil suit against 
the BOP relating to this incident and a continuing pattern of abuse 
within the federal carceral system.


        Judge declines to dismiss assault charge despite deleted prison
        video
        <https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=08e536afc8&e=ee63b50338>


“The case in essence boils down to who threw the first punch and whether 
Mr. King was responding from a defensive posture,” wrote King’s 
attorney, Lauren C. Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. “The 
video is key to establishing this question before the jury.”


*Our mailing address is:*
Civil Liberties Defense Center
1430 Willamette Street #359
Eugene, OR 97401
<https://cldc.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4405adbf2a1180c42d196efe&id=686dd15910&e=ee63b50338> 





  Judge declines to dismiss assault charge despite deleted prison video

By MICHAEL KARLIK  - 
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/judge-declines-to-dismiss-assault-charge-despite-deleted-prison-video/article_cad78102-2544-11ec-abd9-cf48aa692794.html?utm_source=Civil+Liberties+Defense+Center+List&utm_campaign=316aff7aa8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_30_10_34_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_11ddfa2fa7-316aff7aa8-407992737 
<https://www.coloradopolitics.com/users/profile/Michael%20Karlik>

Oct 5, 2021***

  *
    A federal judge has declined to dismiss the charge against a
    Colorado inmate for allegedly assaulting a correctional officer,
    despite the prison deleting video footage from immediately after the
    incident.

*

Eric King stands accused of assaulting or obstructing a federal official 
at the Federal Correctional Institution at Florence. One month after the 
altercation, his lawyer requested video footage from the prison of 
King’s transport to a holding cell in a special housing unit following 
the assault. After learning the prison had not retained the video 
because it showed King being compliant, the defense moved to dismiss the 
criminal charge.

“The video from the Special Housing Unit (SHU) demonstrating Mr. King’s 
compliance was valuable and necessary exculpatory evidence for his 
complete defense,” King's motion argued. “The Bureau of Prisons knew of 
the exculpatory character of the evidence and destroyed the recording(s) 
in bad faith, against policy, as well as after counsel for Mr. King made 
a timely and specific request for preservation of the evidence.”

But on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martínez decided 
King had failed to show that the video would have aided his defense, or 
that the government acted in bad faith.

“[A]s a practical matter, Defendant’s actions after the alleged assault 
have arguably little to no bearing on the matter at hand: whether he in 
fact assaulted Lieutenant Wilcox,” the judge wrote in a Sept. 30 order. 
<https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cod-1_19-cr-00257/pdf/USCOURTS-cod-1_19-cr-00257-4.pdf>

According to the federal government’s description, King was an inmate at 
Florence on Aug. 17, 2018 when another inmate assaulted a lieutenant. 
The prison discovered an email King sent to his significant other after 
the incident, in which he called the assault “one for the home team” and 
“a win for every prisoner ever. Hard to stop smiling thinking about it.”

Lt. Donald Wilcox reportedly interviewed King to determine whether he 
posed a threat to prison staff. During the conversation, Wilcox 
sustained a broken nose and damage to his finger and eye. King claimed 
Wilcox provoked him, and he hit back in defense. Wilcox claimed King 
struck him with a fist.

Afterward, King was restrained in a chair and escorted to the prison’s 
special housing unit. Reportedly, multiple officers were needed to 
restrain King because he repeatedly try to pull away and continue 
attacking. After arriving at the holding cell, he was restrained for 
five hours and taken to solitary confinement at the maximum-security 
facility at Florence.

King’s motion to dismiss the assault charge included a statement from 
the lieutenant who investigated incidents between staff and inmates at 
Florence, saying he did not retain the surveillance video from the 
special housing unit because King was being compliant. Another officer 
present during King’s transport said that King had a history of making 
false complaints and anti-Bureau of Prisons statements, but “he had not 
been violent toward staff prior to this incident.”

King painted the missing video as something crucial to establishing the 
credibility of the corrections officers who said he remained aggressive 
after assaulting Wilcox.

“The case in essence boils down to who threw the first punch and whether 
Mr. King was responding from a defensive posture,” wrote King’s 
attorney, Lauren C. Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. “If Mr. 
King is fighting, resisting or otherwise out of control on the video, a 
jury may infer he was aggressive and may have instigated violence 
against Wilcox in the closet; but on the other hand, if King is 
complaint [sic] and not resisting in the immediate aftermath, a jury may 
infer that he merely defended himself in response to an assault by 
staff. The video is key to establishing this question before the jury.”

The government countered that such evidence was not relevant, and in 
fact would not be allowed to establish King’s character.

“In other words, defendant would not be permitted to argue that his 
compliant behavior during his entry into the SHU somehow suggests that 
he is a peaceful person who therefore did not assault the correctional 
officer earlier in the day,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron M. 
Teitelbaum.

Martínez sided with the government. Even if King could show the video 
would be useful to him, the judge concluded, King had not established 
the government purposefully destroyed it contrary to prison policy.

The case is /United States v. King./

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