Retaliation for filing lawsuits

I am repeatedly being tortured with restraints, threatened, harassed and assaulted as a form of reprisals by High Desert State Prison personnel for filing grievances and lawsuits against adverse prison conditions.

On October 24, 2005, Sgt A. Amero was served a copy of a civil complaint by the Lassen County Sheriff Department in the matter of Chatman v. D.C. Runnels. A few days thereafter, he threatened to retaliate against me in front of the Facility B law librarian and about ten fellow prisoners. Also, he told Officer A. Flam and Officer C. Hougland to watch my every move for "counter suing."

On November 4, 2005, while exiting the infirmary from a physical checkup, I entered the mess hall to leave. Upon arriving at the food port window, I heard staff personnel yell "get down," which prompted me to sit on the floor. Thereafter, five minutes after the two man fight on the yard was suppressed, I asked one of the tower officers, A. Flemming, if I could retrieve my food tray in order to eat my food at a table. In response, the said officer told me to eat on the floor. I countered by telling him that I wasn't a dog to eat food on the floor, and he responded that I was a dog, so I called him a dog in return.

After about another five minutes elapsed, I asked officer Flemming could I get up from sitting on the floor to eat at the table, which prompted him to threaten to shoot me in front of thirty fellow prisoners, while waving the gun in his hands, hence telling me to get up in order to see what will happen. Since I did not get up the said officer radioed Sgt Amero with lies saying I was causing a disturbance among Blacks inside the mess hall.

Moments later , Sgt. Amero, Officer D. Thomas and Officer R. Ross entered the mess hall. As they approached, officer Ross told me to stand up and fact the wall in which I complied. When he put handcuffs on my left wrist to bring my arm behind my back, I told him that I had a medically prescribed waistchain chrono, but before he was able to respond, Sgt. Amero stated that he didn't give a fuck, as he twisted my right arm behind my back with great force, then slammed me with his body against the wall. After being cuffed behind my back, I was escorted from the mess hall by Officer Thomas and Officer Ross to an awaiting cage in the program office. Before the presence of Captain R. Garver an dLeiutenant R. Plainer, Sgt Amero and Officer C. Hongland kept me cuffed in the above fashion for well over an hour inside the cage. When medical training assistant (MTA) Callison arrived, he ordered Officer Alexander and Officer Burke to lift me off the cage floor and to remove the handcuffs for medical evaluation, as a criteria before being placed in administrative segregation.

After taking my clothes off for body inspection before MTA Callison, Sgt Amero and Officer Hougland kept my coat, shirt, pants, shoes and socks, while opening the outer door to the program office for me to freeze in my underwear for over five hours in the presence of Capt Garver and Lt. Plainer. I was then forced to walk a mile cuffed behind my back from B-Facility to administrative segregation per orders of Capt. Gower, Lt. Plainer and Sgt Amero, who fabricated a lock up order and misbehavior reports with the help of Officer Fleming saying that I was inciting Blacks in the mess hall.

On November 23, 205, I was released from ad/seg status by Chief Deputy Warden M.D. McDonald pending the outcome of the above mentioned reports in which he sent me back to general population on B-Facility. Immediately thereafter, Sgt. Amero and Officer Hongland began to harass me by making me take off my coat and shirt in the freezing weather under the pretense of conducting a search, while I was enroute to the law library and later on exiting.

I informed Chief Deputy Warden M.D. McDonald of the ongoing harassment, but he failed to respond to my correspondences. The fabricated charges written against me by Officer Fleming were dismissed by Lieutenant Chapman, who warned me that I would be found guilty of the charges orchestrated by Sgt. Amero at a later date, which prompted me to compose a list of staff personnel wand fellow prisoner witnesses for the hearing. A copy was mailed to Chief Deputy Warden McDonald, Capt Gower and Lt. Chapman as a form of protection to validate my claim of those present at the time of the aforementioned incidents.

On December 16, 2005, Lt R. Rath and Sgt Amero summoned me to the office in housing unit B-2 for a mocked disciplinary hearing on the report written by Sgt. Amero. Upon entry in the office I handed Lt. Rath a copy of a list of witnesses to testify on my behalf, but instead of looking at it he balled it up and threw it on the floor, hence saying that he wished it was the old days when it was easier to kill a prisoner and get away with it. After repeatedly protesting against his presence he said that I forfeited the hearing due to filing a lawsuit against his friend Counselor C. Beckman. He further stated that he was the only wise ass in the institution as he falsely charged me with threatening him and Sgt. Amero. Since my left arm was in a sling and my right arm under a crutch, Sgt. Amero placed waistchains on me for escort across the yard for placement in the program office cage enroute to administrative segregation.

While in the rotunds of B-2 housing unit awaiting to exit, both Lt. Roth and Sgt Amero started planning their story of how they were going to frame me on charges of threats. In response, I told them how I would inform the Director of Corrections of their misconduct, which was answered by Lt. Roth pushing me hard into the wall, hence telling me to watch my New York ass, as Sgt. Amero stood on top of my let foot, which was inflicted with gout from being on a hunger strike. When the outer door to the rotunda opened they escorted me half way across the yard to be relieved by Officer Hougland and Officer Alexander. Upon touching my left hand, officer Hougland bent it inward causing excruciating pain, calling me sexual names and telling the small body of fellow prisoners on the yard that I was a troublemaker.

Immediately after being placed in the program office cage, I was released by Capt Gower and Lt. Plainer who both saw the alleged threat charge as a hoax. I was sent back to my housing unit after the incident was covered up.

On December 17, 2005, Lt. J. Cummings and Sgt. Patton placed me in ad/seg for going on a hunger strike while claiming general conspiracy among forty staff personnel. On December 21, 2005, I was admitted to the Correctional Treatment Center (CTC), then discharged later that afternoon to be forced to limp 1/2 mile from CTC to Ad/seg, while handcuffed behind my back in a blizzard of freezing rain and snow, wearing only underwear and sneakers that was orchestrated by Sgt D. Laguna, Sgt. Codin, Officer A. Martinez and Officer T. Dillard without any regards to my waistchain chrono or medical condition.

The aforementioned harassments, torture, threats and assaults are a constant nightmare of organized abuse with the awareness and consent of the Direction of Corrections, Inspector General, Attorney General, Lassen County District Attorney and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

My appeal is for general support to expose genocidal conditions here at High Desert State Prison, which is surrounded by silence on many levels of abuse that is commonly known as underground rules.

-A California prisoner, January 2006