By Jeff Reinitz
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
WATERLOO, Iowa — One of two inmates on trial for taking part in a riot at the Black Hawk County Jail in July has pleaded.
London Willis Walker, 33, entered Alford pleas — not admitting guilt but agreeing to plead to take advantage of a deal offered by the state — to charges of participating in a riot and second-degree criminal mischief, both felonies.
The arrangement including pleading to charges in an unrelated assault for spitting on a corrections worker in a March incident.
Under the deal, the two cases combined resulted in consecutive sentences totaling 25 years in prison with three years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
Walker declined to comment to the court during the hearing.
The plea came Friday morning after a day of testimony from prosecution witnesses in the jail uprising, and it leaves 34-year-old Damontre Tairice Burt as the lone inmate on trial.
Burt’s attorney on Friday asked the judge to dismiss the charges, alleging his client’s conduct was defensive and in reaction to jail deputies deploying a pepper gas fogger in the jail pod in response to unruly behavior.
“These are all defensive measures. These are not offensive measures,” defense attorney Maurice Spencer said.
He said Burt was using wet cloth to cover his mouth to avoid the gas and the irritating chemical from reaching his skin. He also said cell mattresses were moved because Burt anticipated deputies would use stinger grenades – which launch small, rubber balls.
Judge Joel Dalrymple declined to dismiss the charges and allowed the case to proceed to the jury.
The judge noted evidence included video of Burt repeatedly flushing a clogged cell toilet and covering the day room floor drain to help flood the jail pod with toilet water.
Dalrymple questioned why an inmate would chose toilet water to protect against pepper gas when the cells had working sinks.
The riot was resolved without injuries when deputies with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office tactical team stormed the pod.
Jail staff said the flooding resulted in a $1,100 bill to fix the drains and about $1,000 more to replace mattresses that had been soaking in the toilet water.
A total of six inmates were charged in the incident, and four others – William Rashad Burt, Treshundas Kentrelle Redd, Zavyon Brian Nix and Asa Louis Crawford – pleaded before the start of trial.
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