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<a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/11/13/vaughn-inmate-defendant-takes-stand-says-riot-born-good-intentions/1948479002/">https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/11/13/vaughn-inmate-defendant-takes-stand-says-riot-born-good-intentions/1948479002/</a></font>
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<h1 class="reader-title">Vaughn inmate-defendant takes
stand, says riot was born of 'good intentions'</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Xerxes Wilson, November
13, 2018</div>
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<p>A man charged with the murder of a correctional
officer during the uprising at James T. Vaughn
Correctional Center last year took the witness stand
Tuesday, telling the jury the uprising started with
"good intentions."</p>
<p>"I didn’t kill nobody. I didn’t assault nobody. I
didn't kidnap nobody," said Jarreau Ayers, 36, who
is charged with murder, kidnapping, assault and
other charges. "Anything other than that, I am not
ducking."</p>
<p>Ayers is one of three men on trial f<a
data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/11/12/vaughn-uprising-trial-what-know-trial-enters-fourth-week/1935560002/"
target="_blank">or the past three weeks </a>on
charges tied to the uprising. Prosecutors have said
he was part of the planning and commission of the
uprising that ended with Correctional Officer Lt.
Steven Floyd dead. </p>
<p>He said reality is more complicated. </p>
<p>"Sgt. Floyd should not have died. I agree with
that. It was not right," Ayers said. "Sgt. Floyd
should not have died. Bad things happen when you
have good intentions."</p>
<p>He had been in C building, where the uprising
occurred, for about two months and described three
"peaceful protests" inmates initiated over things
like access to showers and telephones. </p>
<p>Small remedies would lead to a cool down but other
issues presented themselves.</p>
<p>"It continued to build up, build up, build up,"
Ayers said. </p>
<p>He said inmates were getting into confrontations
with each other and guards were "shaking down" cells
regularly. </p>
<p>"If you live there, you are together everyday. You
can't come to an agreement on phone, can’t come to
agreement on showers, can't come to agreement on all
these things, the first confrontation you have is
with inmates," he said. "To avoid that, we said we
have to talk to someone who can change it."</p>
<p><span><a data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/11/12/vaughn-uprising-trial-what-know-trial-enters-fourth-week/1935560002/"
target="_blank">Vaughn uprising trial: What to
know as trial enters fourth week</a></span></p>
<p><span><a data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/11/07/stories-behind-3-men-trial-delaware-prison-riot/1751675002/"
target="_blank">The stories behind the 3 men on
trial for Delaware prison riot</a></span></p>
<p><span><a data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/10/26/vaughn-prison-counselor-held-hostage-there-some-beautiful-moments/1762772002/"
target="_blank">Vaughn prison counselor held
hostage describes 'beautiful moments'</a></span></p>
<p>He said there was discussion about a nonviolent
protest. He said he learned about it the night
before. He said he didn't know details when he went
out to the prison yard that day, but he was for the
cause. </p>
<p>"If we end up having to spend some time in the SHU
(isolation) at least the administration is going to
look into the officers, look into what is going on
and the people that come behind us are going to have
better living conditions," Ayers said. </p>
<p>Prosecutors said the uprising began when Floyd
called the first wave of inmates in from the yard.
Ayers said he stayed outside and heard the
"commotion." He said he was worried about the people
"he has love for" and was unsettled that he wasn't
in on whatever was happening. </p>
<p>"They chose for me not to be part of that
situation. That was a decision they made that I
still take issue with at times," Ayers said. "But it
was what it was."</p>
<p>He said a masked man came to the door and commanded
the rest of the inmates in.</p>
<p>Some witnesses called by prosecutors over the past
three weeks said that Ayers came from inside and
called in the group while wearing a mask. Others
said a masked man they didn't know did it. </p>
<p>Ayers called three witnesses to the stand before
his testimony who all said a masked man whose
identity they didn't know called them in.</p>
<p>Ayers told the jury he knows who it was. Later, he
was asked to identify the man on cross-examination
by prosecutors, was reminded he is under oath by the
judge and said he didn't recall the identity. </p>
<p>From there he went back inside and said he began
checking on people he was friends with. He said he
was unconcerned about being implicated for walking
around because he is already serving a life
sentence. </p>
<p>As he is moving around he sees his co-defendant and
"comrade" Dwayne Staats as well as <a
data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a"
href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/10/31/vaughn-defendants-grill-fellow-inmate-who-states-top-witness-against-them/1804034002/"
target="_blank">Royal Downs</a>, the state's star
witness who took a plea in return for testifying, in
the building's classroom. They had a radio and told
him they are trying to get Gov. John Carney on the
line. </p>
<p>"I ain't going to lie to you, I was like 'who the
hell is Carney?" he said. </p>
<p>He told the jury he guessed it should have been
"more dramatic," but once the prisoners realized
nobody was rushing in to retake the building,
"everybody did what they wanted to do." </p>
<p>"You got the microwave down on the tier. You got
weed being rolled up," Ayers said. "You got the
'what we gonna cook, what are we going to do?'"</p>
<p>Inmates testifying for the prosecution have
portrayed themselves as victims when asked about
their motivation and potential benefit for
cooperating with the state.</p>
<p>Ayers said it was hard for him to watch witnesses
"act as if somehow they were scared to move around
as if in that moment they did not feel some type of
freedom or liberation." </p>
<p>He said he had no part in the takeover until Staats
asked him to go around and ask which inmates had
medical problems and needed to leave promptly. A
previous witness testified that Ayers got water for
him and secured his exit because of his heart
condition. </p>
<p>When the time came to open the door and let that
group out, he said nobody wanted to leave, fearing
the police would begin shooting. Ayers said
he opened it and slammed it when black-suited cops
with guns started to rush toward them.</p>
<p>Ayers voice can be heard on radio transmissions
with hostage negotiators soon after. </p>
<p>"You rush that (expletive) door like that again it
is going to be an issue. We are trying to do exactly
what protocol is," Ayers can be heard saying. "You
piss me off. I'm trying to do the right thing." </p>
<p>He said that was the only time he was on the radio.
During his cross examination, Brian Robertson,
deputy attorney general, asked where he got the
radio from. </p>
<p>"I snatched it from Royal Downs, the one you gave a
plea too," Ayers said. </p>
<p>He said he enjoyed the rest of the time he could
spend with his friends that night, knowing that once
it was over, he'd likely never see them again.</p>
<p>He recalled conversations with Staats about how
young men come into prison, get no rehabilitation in
terms of job training before being let out only to
find themselves back in jail.</p>
<p>He said that has to change and feels the motivation
behind what became the uprising was sound. </p>
<p>"I love my comrades I’m going to stand by them 100
percent all the way," Ayers said. </p>
<p>Following Ayers' testimony, Staats took the stand
and took credit for organizing the uprising and said
Ayers had no involvement in the planning. </p>
<p id="article-body-p-last"><em>Contact Xerxes Wilson
at (302) 324-2787 or <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:xwilson@delawareonline.com">xwilson@delawareonline.com</a>.
Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.</em></p>
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<font size="-2">_______________________________________________________________________________<br>
<a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/first-vaughn-prison-revolt-trial-begins/">https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/first-vaughn-prison-revolt-trial-begins/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">First Vaughn Prison Revolt Trial Begins
- UNICORN RIOT</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By Chris Schiano, October
23, 2018<br>
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<p>Wilmington, DE – On February 1, 2017, a <a
href="https://shadowproof.com/2018/02/02/one-year-vaughn-prison-uprising-demands-still-unaddressed/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">prisoner uprising</a>
took place at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in
Smyrna, Delaware. Over 100 inmates at the maximum
security prison seized control of ‘Building C’ at the
state Department of Corrections complex, taking several
prison employees hostage in an uprising that would last
almost 24 hours. Those involved in the uprising demanded
better living conditions, access to education,
transparency in use of prison funds, and an end to
inconsistent enforcement of prison policies. Now, more
than a year and a half after the historic uprising, four
defendants – Jarreau Ayers, Derric Forney, Dwayne
Staats, and Roman Shankaras – are the first to face
trial after refusing plea deals offered by prosecutors.</p>
<p>After police retook Building C on February 2, 2017, 18
prisoners were eventually indicted on felony counts of
riot, conspiracy, first degree kidnapping, first degree
assault, and first degree murder. Since one of the 18 –
Royal ‘Diamond’ Downs – has turned state’s evidence,
supporters are referring to the Vaughn uprising
defendants as the “Smyrna 17” (The James T. Vaughn
Correctional Center is in Smyrna, Delaware.) Apart from
Ayers, Forney, Staats, and Shankaras, four other groups
of prisoners face trials in between November 2018 and
February 2019.</p>
<p>All four defendants seemed confident and prepared in
court, sitting upright and paying close attention during
opening arguments on Monday. Ayers and Staats are both
representing themselves <em>pro se</em> and appeared
eager to finally confront the charges against them. The
four defendants, all black men, were closely guarded in
the courtroom at all times by at least 9 Delaware
Department of Corrections officers, all of whom appeared
to be white.</p>
<p>18 jurors – 3 white men, 10 white women, 3 black men,
& 2 black women – were seated around 10 AM in Judge
William Carpenter’s courtroom on the 8th floor of the
Leonard C Williams Justice Center. After the jurors were
sworn in, opening arguments for the state of Delaware
were made by Assistant Attorney General Nichole Warner.
Warner called February 1, 2017, “<strong>a day unlike
any other</strong>” and told jurors that “<strong>suddenly
and violently, a group of inmates took the building
over</strong>.”</p>
<p>In language echoing the failed <a
href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/us-attorney-drops-38-trump-inauguration-protest-charges/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal rioting
conspiracy case</a> against protesters arrested at
Trump’s inauguration, Assistant Attorney General Nichole
Warner told jurors that prisoners who may have only
intended to organize civil disobedience in their
facility were still ultimately responsible for the death
of Corrections Officer Steven Floyd:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>“All people associated with the original
crime can be held liable…even if there was no
agreement [to commit murder].” –</strong> Assistant
Delaware Attorney General Nichole Warner</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Assistant Attorney General Warner’s opening argument
primarily focused on building the basic narrative of
events that will be referred to by witnesses throughout
the trial. She described how on February 1, 2017, when
corrections officers (COs) called for inmates to come
inside from the recreation yard to take showers, several
masked prisoners attacked the COs with a mop wringer,
subduing them and taking them hostage, restraining them
with their own handcuffs.</p>
<p>Sergeant Steven Floyd, who would later be killed, was
known to be verbally abusive towards inmates, according
to defense lawyer Jason Antoine, who said he was known
for yelling at prisoners in their cells. During the
takeover, Floyd was initially detained by prisoners in a
mop closet, but was later moved to the Sergeant’s
office, where investigators would later find his corpse.</p>
<p>Two other COs, Winslow Smith and Joshua Wilkinson, were
also taken hostage and reportedly beaten and injured,
but survived. Smith was released during hostage
negotiations, while Wilkinson was kept behind and used
as a go-between during the final attempted negotiations
until police retook Building C. A prison counselor was
also taken hostage during the standoff but was not
physically harmed.</p>
<p>Once the prisoners had taken control of Building C,
they began negotiating over the radio for the release of
the hostages. The prosecution alleges that defendant
Dwayne Staats threatened to kill hostages over the
radio, telling police “<strong>if you breach, they will
die immediately</strong>” – a claim expected to be
contested by Staats as the trial proceeds. The state
played an extended sample of Department of Corrections
radio chatter from the negotiations, although the
recording had a severe echo effect that made it
difficult to understand what was said.</p>
<p>The state acknowledged that they had absolutely no
surveillance video footage from the prison that day.
Around 2 PM on the day of the uprising, the prisoners
involved in the takeover agreed to let other inmates
with health conditions leave the building, with more
being released later at midnight. Around 5 AM,
militarized police with Delaware’s Corrections Emergency
Response Team (CERT) had breached building C, extracted
the remaining hostages, and began subjugating the
prisoners still inside the facility.</p>
<p>Images shown by the prosecution during opening
arguments included pictures of burnt lockers, allegedly
demonstrating how prisoners were burning bloody clothes
to prevent them from being used as criminal evidence,
and pictures of the mop wringer that was reportedly used
to assault guards during the takeover.</p>
<p>Assistant Attorney General Warner went on to make more
specific allegations against each of the defendants.
Jarreau Ayers, she said, made a phone call from inside
Vaughn on January 31, the day before the uprising, in
which he allegedly said “<strong>something big</strong>”
was going to happen soon and asked for money to be put
on his commissary. The state also claimed that one of
their cooperating witnesses would testify that Ayers
attacked a CO and that he was seen “<strong>giving
orders</strong>” during the riot. Warner mentioned
defendant Derric Forney only briefly, claiming offhand
that he “<strong>assaulted officers</strong>.”</p>
<p>Roman Shankaras was called a <strong>“mastermind</strong>”
and “<strong>shot caller</strong>” although Warner also
added that “<strong>he didn’t assault anyone himself</strong>.”
The case against Shankaras seems to orbit around a kite
(prison letter) that he wrote to another inmate, which
his lawyer claims was written under duress. Dwayne
Staats was also alleged to have been seen by cooperating
inmate witnesses with a shank and a radio during the
uprising as well as assaulting a CO and “<strong>giving
orders</strong>” to other prisoners. The prosecution
plans to use letters written by Staats to claim that he
took responsibility for the riot and the death of
Sergeant Floyd.</p>
<p>After Assistant Attorney General Warner finished
outlining the state’s case against the defendants, each
of the defendants made their opening arguments. Jason
Antoine, defense counsel for Roman Shankaras, told
jurors “<strong>if you had to boil this case down to one
thing… this is about dignity</strong>” and argued that
Shankaras and many other prisoners had simply planned to
“<strong>stand out in the yard to protest prison
conditions</strong>.” He also spoke about poor living
conditions in Building C at Vaughn and told jurors that
“<strong>this riot had been brewing</strong>” for a long
time due to “<strong>mistreatment</strong>” and “<strong>inconsistent
policies</strong>.” Antoine called the Vaughn Uprising
“<strong>a shock to the state of Delaware and a shock to
the prison system</strong>,” pointing out that it is
the first time a corrections officer has been killed in
a Delaware facility.</p>
<p>Defense counsel for Shankaras also pointed out the
presence of a security camera that could have captured
Shankaras’ presence in the recreation yard while the
prison takeover happened inside. He says the state
responded to his request for the footage by telling him
that “<strong>the camera location system only works from
one location at a time</strong>.”</p>
<p>He also named three specific “<strong>bad apple guards</strong>”
– Abigail West, and Estrada Green and Lance Green – as
particularly responsible for exacerbating tensions
amongst prisoners inside Building C. Antoine also
pointed out that Shankaras was either out of the yard or
in his cell during most of the events in question,
including with Sergeant Floyd was killed. He told jurors
that his client was an “<strong>outlier</strong>” to the
day’s events, didn’t give orders to anyone or talk on
the radio, and was being charged as retaliation for not
testifying against others.</p>
<p>Antoine spent most of his opening statement poking
various holes in the testimony expected to be heard over
the next few weeks from cooperating inmate witnesses. He
further alleged that cooperating witnesses had been
housed together by the state at Howard Young
Correctional Facility so that they could rehearse their
stories together. One state’s witness he brought to the
jury’s attention was a convicted pedophile; another had
admitted to being a compulsive liar. At one point he
called the case “<strong>garbage evidence in, garbage
evidence out</strong>” and went on to mention that one
prosecution witness falsely claimed that Sergeant Floyd
was beheaded. Another of the state’s cooperating
witnesses reportedly stole Floyd’s watch off of his
wrist.</p>
<p>Antoine seemed to relish getting to what he told jurors
was the “<strong>good part</strong>” of his opening
statement, telling them “<strong>Hollywood ain’t ready
for this</strong>.” He was referring to Royal Diamond
Downs, the state’s “<strong>star witness</strong>” who
was himself a participant in the Vaughn Uprising before
flipping to testify for the prosecution in exchange for
dodging the murder changes. According to Antoine, Downs
is “<strong>one of the most influential people in the
Delaware prison system</strong>” and sat at the top of
the prison hierarchy where he could order hits by
different prison gangs such as Black Guerrilla Family
and Dead Man’s Inc (DMI). He further alleged that Downs
essentially “<strong>ran</strong>” Vaughn Correctional
Center and that he was possibly the one who ordered
Sergeant Floyd to be killed during the prison uprising.
Radio from the February 1, 2017 standoff, as well as a
recorded February 15, 2017 phone call Downs made to his
girlfriend in which he seemed to take responsibility for
Sergeant Floyd’s death and express remorse.</p>
<p>Next to give opening statements was Dwayne Staats,
representing himself. Staats said that he was “<strong>agitated</strong>”
by “<strong>false allegations</strong>” against him and
insisted that the state was using other prisoners’ false
testimony in order to try to wrongly convict him.</p>
<p>Staats asked jurors to be critical of the “<strong>collage
of misinformation that’s going to be presented to you</strong>”
and told them prosecutors were “<strong>going to bombard
you with inconsistencies and contradictions</strong>.”
Staats says that prosecution witness statements say that
he was in places that he wasn’t on the day of the
uprising and told the jury “<strong>I didn’t wear a mask</strong>”
and “<strong>I don’t have a clone that was running
around</strong>.” He ended by asking jurors to
remember that they had to find him not guilty if the
charges against him weren’t proven beyond a reasonable
doubt: “<strong>the scale is tilted my way … at this
moment I’m presumed innocent</strong>.”</p>
<p>Next to give opening statements, and also representing
himself at trial, was defendant Jarreau Ayers. Ayers
criticized the state for relying on testimony from
Vaughn prisoners who were willing to “<strong>lie to get
a deal</strong>” and said prosecutors were trying “<strong>pick
and choose evidence that fits their theory</strong>.”
He told jurors “<strong>you got the right to be
skeptical</strong>” about the motives of witnesses in
the case – a comment to which prosecutors objected, but
Judge Carpenter overruled the objection. Ayers stressed
that no DNA or forensic evidence has been brought
against him, and that the state’s case has to rely on
witnesses.</p>
<p>Ayers made further comments to the jury asking them to
not take the trial proceedings at face value and to
resist “<strong>social conformity</strong>” that might
pressure them to “<strong>choose the side of the state</strong>.”</p>
<p>He also spoke to what he saw as the wider significance
of the trial:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>“I believe that this case has the opportunity
to set the tone for how people look at “beyond a
reasonable doubt” in our legal system.” – </strong>Jarreau
Ayers</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ayers went on to tell jurors how he had reviewed
thousands of pages of legal documents to prepare for his
trial and that “<strong>the only thing consistent about
this case is going to be the inconsistencies and
contradictions</strong>.”</p>
<p>Ayers showed the jury pictures of a broken mop handle,
gloves, and a shank that had been used by the
prosecution during their opening. “<strong>The reality
of it is none of these pieces of evidence have our DNA
on it or the CO’s DNA on it</strong>,” he said, asking
jurors not to accept “<strong>the level of prestige
where I can just show you something because I’m the
state…don’t allow the magnifying glass or the lights
being so bright distract you from what is right</strong>.”</p>
<p>Last to make an opening argument was Ben Gifford,
defense counsel for Vaughn uprising defendant Derric
Forney. Gifford mostly stressed that his client was
presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that very
little evidence at all had been presented against
Forney. Forney’s lawyer also reminded jurors that each
of the four defendants were entitled to be tried
individually and that they shouldn’t let the state try
to paint them as guilty by association with each other.</p>
<p>After opening arguments ended and the court took a
lunch recess, trial resumed with the jurors hearing from
the state’s two first witnesses, two investigators,
tasked with analyzing evidence from Building C after
police had put down the uprising. They shared an
extensive list of details about evidence recovered after
the fact. Testimony by Delaware State Police Corporal
Roger Cresto, who took photographs of Building C on
February 2, 2017 after the police raid, had not finished
by the time Judge Carpenter decided to end court for the
day. His testimony is scheduled to resume in front of
the jury at 10 AM on Tuesday, October 23.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja" target="_blank"
rel="noopener">Follow Unicorn Riot on Twitter</a> for
the most up-to-date information from inside the trial
(we can’t tweet from court but post what we can on
breaks!)</p>
<br>
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