An autopsy has found that the death of a New York State prison inmate who was handcuffed and shackled while corrections officers attacked him was a homicide, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday.
Ms. Hochul said the determination should prompt the swift filing of criminal charges against those involved in the death of the man, Robert Brooks, 43, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in December. She referred to the killing as a “murder” and “horrific.”
“Those responsible for Mr. Brooks’s death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, and I recognize the need to build an airtight prosecution to ensure those individuals are brought to justice,” the governor said in a statement. “This reprehensible act of violence demands the full force of our justice system. The family of Mr. Brooks deserves no further delays.”
Mr. Brooks’s family has also called for criminal charges and has filed state and federal lawsuits against the State of New York and the people implicated in his killing. Elizabeth Mazur, a lawyer for the family, said on Wednesday that “the autopsy report confirms what was already clear: Robert Brooks’s violent death was a homicide.”
Ms. Mazur added: “We look forward to the prosecution of those responsible. In the meantime, we are pushing forward with our fight for justice for Mr. Brooks and for his family.”
Neither Ms. Hochul nor Ms. Mazur disclosed other details of the autopsy, which was conducted by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office. A spokeswoman for the office referred questions to the county’s district attorney, William J. Fitzpatrick, who is acting as a special prosecutor in the case. He did not return calls seeking comment.
In court filings in December, State Police investigators said preliminary findings from the medical examiner’s office showed “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another.”
The attack, on Dec. 9, was captured by body-worn cameras belonging to four Marcy officers. Footage from the cameras, which was made public by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, appeared to show officers choking Mr. Brooks and forcefully picking him up and pushing him down by his throat.
Mr. Brooks was declared dead at a Utica hospital early the next day, officials have said. He had been serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty in Monroe County in 2017 to first-degree assault in the stabbing of a former girlfriend, according to court documents and state prison records.
Before the attack, he was serving his sentence at Mohawk Correctional Facility, about a 15-minute drive from the Marcy prison. Both are medium-security facilities. He was moved on the day he was attacked and arrived at the Marcy prison just before the deadly beating began.
Officials have not said publicly what prompted the transfer. But a corrections department investigator said last month that Mr. Brooks had been moved for “his safety” after he was involved in altercations with other prisoners at the Mohawk facility.
The investigator’s statement came during testimony in support of a State Police application for a so-called red flag order against one officer implicated in the attack. (Such orders allow law enforcement authorities to remove guns from people believed to be potential threats to themselves or others.)
Ms. Hochul ordered that those involved be fired. Eighteen prison employees — 16 officers and two nurses — were suspended without pay as a step toward termination. Two of the officers have resigned.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case after Ms. James recused herself, citing her office’s defense of several of the corrections officers implicated in Mr. Brooks’s killing in lawsuits filed by other prisoners.
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