By Anne Hayes
syracuse.com
UTICA, N.Y. ― A former corrections officer on trial in the death of an inmate did not touch the man but caused his death by failing to stop the beatings, prosecutors said in opening statements Tuesday.
Michael D. Fisher is one of 10 guards charged after Robert Brooks, 43, was beaten to death hours after he arrived at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024 . Fisher is charged with second-degree manslaughter and if convicted faces 15 years in prison.
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Fisher’s attorney, Scott Iseman, told the jury his client did not witness some of the most brutal blows Brooks suffered and could not have known the assaults could be fatal. He warned the jury not to let hindsight bias cloud their judgment.
Officers repeatedly punched and kicked Brooks in the groin, abdomen, neck and face in the prison’s infirmary. He died hours later at a Utica hospital.
The brutal beating — which prosecutors said was the final of three beatings to Brooks — was recorded on video by body cameras worn by four officers. None had turned on their camera, but 30 minutes of video was passively recorded without audio.
Fisher’s body camera was one of four that captured the incident. In Fisher’s video, the guard doesn’t touch Brooks during the assaults.
Iseman said Fisher’s camera footage also shows he missed some of the most brutal assaults: one by Christopher Walrath before Brooks was taken to the infirmary and another by Anthony Farina before Fisher arrived.
Iseman pointed out that those assaults targeted Brooks’ neck, where some of the worst injuries were sustained. He told the jury Fisher would not have known of the potentially fatal damage Brooks was already suffering from before he arrived.
Fisher is the last former officer waiting for a resolution of his charges in the beating death. Six guards have pleaded guilty and three went to trial together.
Judge Robert Bauer gave Fisher a separate trial after his attorneys argued they needed more time, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick confirmed. They argued prosecutors changed their theory to accuse Fisher of being an accessory to the crime rather than an active participant, Fitzpatrick said.
Before opening statements Tuesday, Fitzpatrick said that the essence of their case against Fisher is that if he, or others, had intervened during the assault, Brooks would not have died.
Prosecutors directed the jury to pay close attention to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision policy on the “duty to intervene,” a key topic in the last trial.
The policy requires officers to step in when they see excessive force. Fitzpatrick told the jury Fisher witnessed Brooks being assaulted for six minutes and never honored his oath to intervene.
Fitzpatrick said inmates are dependent on the corrections officers for their safety. He said that the officers’ duty to intervene stems from their custodial power over the inmates.
Iseman told the jury to put themselves in Fisher’s shoes. He said Fisher walked in to see a wall of corrections officers, including his supervisors, after responding to a call that officers needed help. He told the jury the supervisors in the room were sanctioning the force Fisher was witnessing.
The case will hinge on what the jury finds Fisher was aware of when he was witnessing the assault. They must decide if he had a reasonable belief that there was a risk of death and still failed to step in and stop the abuse.
In an October trial for other officers, two officers who never struck Brooks were acquitted of murder charges. Fisher faces a lesser charge that does not require prosecutors to prove he intended to kill or seriously injure Brooks.
The other guards
Here is what has happened to the 10 corrections officers charged in connection with Brooks’ death.
- Nicholas Anzalone pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
- Anthony Farina pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
- Christopher Walrath pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
- Sgt. Michael Mashaw pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 3 to 9 years.
- David Walters pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years.
- Glenn Trombly pleaded guilty to second-degree gang assault. He was sentenced to four years.
Three other former officers went to trial in October. All three men were charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.
- David Kingsley was found guilty of both charges. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
- Mathew Galliher was acquitted of all charges.
- Nicholas Kieffer was acquitted of all charges.
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