By Tracey Kaplan
Mercury News
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A judge is expected to rule Thursday afternoon whether two Santa Clara County jail guards suspected of severely beating an inmate should stand trial on assault charges.
Phillip Abecendario and Tuan Le are accused of assaulting chronic offender Ruben Garcia on July 23, 2015, more than a month before three other guards allegedly beat to death mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree. The correctional deputies in the Tyree case -- Jereh Lubrin, Rafael Rodriguez and Matthew Farris -- were charged with murder and have pleaded not guilty.
Abecendario and Le have also pleaded not guilty and are on paid administrative leave from the Sheriff’s Department.
The beating of Garcia, who was 50 at the time, was featured in this newspaper as part of an investigation into conditions at Silicon Valley’s troubled main jail. The former gang member has been in and out of jail for 30 years, most recently on a drug possession charge. He has sued the county over the incident, contending that officials have long demonstrated a deliberate indifference to a pattern of misconduct by guards.
In interviews with this newspaper and in his claim, Garcia contended that the beating occurred after he “mouthed off” to the guards about not getting any dinner. He said he was punched and kicked in the face and ribs repeatedly while his ankles were shackled, slammed against walls and dragged in a painful arm-lock with his pants and underwear pulled down.
Garcia said his jaw was probably broken when he was thrown to the ground in his cell and hit his face on the bottom bunk bed. However, Garcia also got into a brief scuffle the next morning with another inmate, who he said punched him in the temple.
Defense attorneys are expected to argue that Le and Abecendario should not be ordered to stand trial -- or at most, should face only misdemeanor rather than felony charges.
The burden of proof in a California preliminary hearing is “probable cause,” much lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard necessary at trial. Probable cause is essentially a strong, reasonable suspicion.
The day after his encounter with the guards, Garcia said, Le came to his cell and apologized. “Look what you did to my face, man!” Garcia said. “It is what it is,” Garcia said Le told him. “Welcome to my dorm.”
Garcia said he hadn’t planned on complaining, but his case came to light after a homicide detective investigating Tyree’s beating asked him what happened to his face, which was swaddled in white gauze from his head to his chin.
Garcia alleges he was taken to the nurse’s station after talking to the sergeant and then to Valley Medical Center. A doctor there told him he had a hairline fracture, but he claims it was not treated.
About a month later, he developed an abscess, prompting the re-breaking of his jaw and the installation of titanium plates. He also suffered nerve damage, which results in occasional drool escaping from his mouth because of the numbness.