By Jon Moss
syracuse.com
UTICA, N.Y. — One of the former New York state corrections officers found not guilty last fall in the brutal killing of an inmate is suing the state for malicious prosecution and defamation.
The former corrections officer, Nicholas Kieffer, is seeking $5 million in damages for what his lawyer said was an “ill conceived, ill intended” prosecution by Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, a special prosecutor in the case.
The lawsuit was filed last month by Kieffer’s lawyer, David Longeretta, in the state Court of Claims. It is a specialized court that handles lawsuits against New York State.
Longeretta said the charges Kieffer faced, which included second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, were “trumped up.” Kieffer was found not guilty after a two-week trial in October.
He cast the statements made by Fitzpatrick at trial as “calculated” to defame Kieffer, damaging his reputation.
Longeretta also said the prosecution was being used to “simply further the political agenda” of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.
Fitzpatrick said he would let the lawsuit play out in court and declined further comment. The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kieffer and nine other corrections officers were indicted in the fatal beating of inmate Robert L. Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 9, 2024.
In October, a jury acquitted Kieffer of all charges.
He had been indicted on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree gang assault and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.
Kieffer was not accused of kicking or punching Brooks, actions taken by other prison guards that were caught on video.
Instead, Kieffer was accused of pepper-spraying Brooks in a different part of the prison system, off camera.
Kieffer was nearby when other guards fatally beat Brooks. During the trial, Fitzpatrick argued that Kieffer had a duty to intervene during the beating.
Multiple corrections officers repeatedly punched and kicked Brooks in the groin, abdomen and face in the prison infirmary, according to body camera videos that captured the attack. He died hours later at a Utica hospital.
Brooks’ death was ruled a homicide by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner‘s Office. His cause of death was “compression of the neck and multiple blunt-impact injuries,” according to the autopsy report.
Body cameras captured the beating from multiple angles. Four guards present had their cameras on but did not activate them to start recording. Unbeknownst to them, 30 minutes of video was passively recorded without audio.
Kieffer also has sued the state in a separate lawsuit to compel it to pay his legal fees in a lawsuit filed by the Brooks family.
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