By Matt Gray
nj.com
AVENEL, N.J. — A grand jury has indicted a state correctional officer on an official misconduct charge stemming from a fight with a civilly committed sex offender who later died.
He is not charged with causing the man’s death, officials confirmed, but the detainee’s family claims in a lawsuit that the man was brutally beaten by officers and denied prompt medical care.
Officer Giuseppe Mandara was working at the Special Treatment Unit, located on the grounds of East Jersey State Prison in Avenel section of Woodbridge Township, on Aug. 23, 2019, when he got into a “physical altercation” with a detainee in the facility, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Mandara allegedly abandoned his equipment, including his keys and radio and “thereafter used excessive or unlawful force against the resident” in violation of Department of Corrections policies and training for correctional police officers, the attorney general reported.
The detainee, Darrell Smith, 50, suffered a fatal stroke several days after the incident, officials said.
The state grand jury indicted Mandara last week on a second-degree count of official misconduct.
Mandara’s attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The grand jury heard testimony from the state medical examiner about the cause of the stroke and manner of death, but they “declined to initiate homicide charges for any involved individuals,” according to the attorney general’s office.
The announcement did not provide additional details about Smith’s death or identify him by name.
The investigation is ongoing and additional details are not being released, the announcement stated.
Smith’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging he was attacked twice by a group of correctional officers in “gang-style” assaults.
“Mr. Smith was tortured, beaten, kicked, punched, stomped, placed in an illegal chokehold, slammed to the ground, and had his head slammed into a glass door,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that he was denied “prompt and critical medical care” after the first attack.
The second attack resulted in “catastrophic injuries that left him in an unresponsive and catatonic state” in a cell covered in his own feces, urine and vomit, the suit claims.
Four days after the attack, Smith was taken to a hospital, where he arrived unresponsive, according to his family. He was placed on life support, declared brain dead and died two days later.
He “sustained a severe catastrophic brain injury” as a result “of the brutal beatings,” according to the lawsuit, which is ongoing.
Smith served more than two decades in state prison on charges of kidnapping and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. After completing that sentence, he was civilly committed to the Special Treatment Unit.
The unit houses sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences, but are deemed a danger to commit additional acts of sexual violence if released. Treatment is provided via the state Department of Health.
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