Associated Press
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s top advocate for prison inmates says the staff at a private Kentucky prison did what it could to protect inmates before a fight that landed an inmate in intensive care.
Defender General Matt Valerio made the comments Wednesday to members of the Vermont Legislature’s Justice Oversight Committee, which was learning about the May 18 death in Kentucky of inmate James Nicolson.
An autopsy determined Nicholson died of a heart ailment, but it couldn’t determine if the April 2 beating he took at the prison run by the Corrections Corporation of America contributed to his death.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Vermont Corrections officials say they were told by CCA that the Kentucky State Police had been informed of Nicholson’s death. But police insist they learned of the death from a reporter.