Witnesses say they watched Philly prison guard brutalize inmate

Representatives of local government agencies and the city's leading social-service organizations watched in horror yesterday as a corrections officer at Philadelphia's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility viciously beat an inmate, according to three witnesses interviewed by City Paper.

"I saw this officer punch this inmate," says one witness, "punch this young man in his face. He fell to the floor. You hear his head hit the concrete. And the officer then got on top of him and pummeled this man six or seven times."

More than 20 people representing more than a dozen groups were in the prison's gym early yesterday afternoon to showcase services available to prisoners and those reentering the community. This witness, like two others interviewed by City Paper, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of their organizations' ties to the city and prison system.

Philadelphia Prison System spokesperson Shawn Hawes told City Paper that "there was no beating."

"Apparently the inmate in question was instructed to leave with his group, and he refused that order," says Hawes. "He took a swing at the officer from what I understand. And he was taken to the ground and handcuffed."

Hawes identified the inmate as 25-year-old Marcellus Temple, who faces attempted murder and other charges related to an April shooting that wounded an 11-year-old bystander. Hawes declined to release the name of the corrections officer involved, citing a pending investigation. But, she says, he is "likely...still on duty because the use of force was not found unjustifiable yet."

All three witnesses interviewed vehemently reject Hawes' official account.

"They're lying," says a second witness, who says the inmate never threw a punch. "The prison system is lying to you."

All say they were disturbed that no fellow guards intervened as the corrections officer beat the inmate. Indeed, a second guard was heard commenting to social-service providers, "You don't know what we go through on a daily basis." They also expressed concern that an officer who was willing to brutalize an inmate in front of outside visitors might be prone to even more serious violence when no one is watching.

"He commenced to beating this man to a pulp right in front of everybody who was invited into the prison," says the second witness. "The initial hit was like a one-two. The boy fell. He knocked him out....his hands were straight on his side like you see on TV. Then the guard jumped on him and hit him like five or six more times ... and just kept beating him. Nobody said, 'stop.' Nobody intervened."

That witness says the "man needs to lose his job...and he needs counseling so it doesn't happen to nobody in his family. The rage I seen on his face was terrible. It was crazy."

The witness says that one inmate stated, "I'm so glad you all were here to witness it."

The first witness heard the corrections officer say, "Twice I asked him leave the room and he didn't want to so I beat the motherfucker down."

Hawes says the incident was being reviewed. But she could not explain why her account differs from that of the social-service providers who witnessed the alleged assault first hand.

A third witness echoed the others' account of a brutal and unprovoked attack.

"The C.O. had his knee in this guy's back," says the witness. "He couldn't move. It wasn't necessary...It could have been handled much better than that. Especially if you have a lot of other C.O.s standing around doing nothing."

"I'm still traumatized," the witness continued. "Nobody intervened."