By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
SMYRNA - Lawyers for a 27-year-old counselor who was terrorized and raped July 12 by an inmate at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna strongly criticized Gov. Ruth Ann Minner Tuesday for failing to order an independent investigation of the incident.
Attorneys Herbert G. Feuerhake and Jeffrey K. Martin made their comments following a probe by the state attorney general's office that found correctional officer Lt. Keith Hoffer's use of deadly force to shoot and kill serial rapist Scott A. Miller was justified.
Miller, 45, produced a homemade knife and abducted the female correctional counselor after attending a stress management class she held for a group of inmates. He dragged her into a room at knifepoint, barricaded the door, and held her hostage for nearly seven hours.
According to the attorney general's deadly force investigation, Lt. Hoffer shot and killed Miller from the ceiling of an adjoining room after he realized Miller had just raped the woman and was about to attack her with the knife.
"We are pleased that the shooter was vindicated,'' the lawyers said in a prepared statement.
"His actions, together with the counselor's own heroic struggle as Miller died trying to kill her, combined to save her life.''
But the attorneys' praise stopped there.
"While the shooter was vindicated, the Department of Correction has not,'' the statement said. "This hostage situation should never have occurred.
"Moreover, the fact that Gov. Minner continues to allow the Department of Correction to investigate itself as to the origin of this incident, is an ongoing travesty and an embarrassment to the state of Delaware.''
Gov. Minner did not respond to telephone requests for comments Tuesday.
In previous accounts, she has said she has full confidence in corrections Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor and the internal DOC investigation he is heading regarding the July 12 incident.
When Mr. Martin asked that an independent commission be established shortly after the incident occurred, Gov. Minner said the request was "premature.''
"Without the findings of (DOC's) internal investigation, I don't know if an independent investigation is necessary or not,'' the governor said. "(Mr. Taylor) has said he will make sure this is done correctly.''
Gov. Minner said inadequate staffing was not a factor in the abduction and rape.
"We have worked on staffing issues in the prisons and will continue to work on them,'' she said in a prepared statement the day after the incident occurred.
"Commissioner Taylor has made it clear to me that (the July 12) incident was not related to staffing and more correctional officers would not have kept this from occurring.''
Mr. Taylor declined comment Tuesday. He previously stated that DOC always conducts internal investigations of incidents that take place within Delaware prisons.
The victim's lawyers say that response falls far short of what needs to be done.
"It is long past time for Gov. Minner to do the obvious,'' they said. "(She should) appoint an independent commission with a twofold responsibility.
"First, to find out why this incident happened, and second, to find out why the Department of Correction continues to be plagued by understaffing, low morale and unnecessarily dangerous conditions that shock the conscience.''
Mr. Martin said that although his client was interviewed two weeks ago by DOC investigators, he has heard nothing further from the department.
He said his client - who has not been publicly identified - remains very traumatized by the July 12 experience and is under a doctor's care.
"She has trouble eating and sleeping, and doing daily activities,'' Mr. Martin said.
He said she remains on leave from her counselor's job at DCC, and is using accumulated sick and vacation time.
"She was denied administrative leave,'' he said. "We asked the department for the same type of leave that they gave the shooter. They said no.''
He said she is not thinking about other employment.
"She's really in no condition to consider employment at this point,'' Mr. Martin said.
Douglas Ingram is a former contractual employee to DOC who was suspended from his job as a program manager after he shared his voluntary review and report of Sussex Correctional Center's court and transport security procedures with the Delaware State News.
"I don't think Mr. Taylor should be in charge of investigating the July 12 incident because he was the commander in charge of handling the hostage crisis,'' Mr. Ingram said.
"He's going to confirm his own decisions and disregard other facts. He's going to concentrate on the facts that fit his perspective of what happened."
"The governor is going to allow him to confirm his own decisions. I think the victim, the public and the correctional officers have a right to know what, how and why it happened and what is being done to make sure it doesn't happen again.''
Mr. Ingram, who worked for years as a security officer with the federal Bureau of Prisons, said Gov. Minner could seek help from federal authorities to achieve a complete review of DOC and the hostage-taking incident.
"There should be nothing to hide in the Department of Correction,'' he said.
"Gov. Minner could contact the federal government. They're quite good at what they do. She could ask them to send an audit team with the understanding we would pay their salaries while they're here.
"I would strongly encourage the governor to take this opportunity. Something good should come out of this incident.''
Post comments on this issue at newsblog.info/0407 Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
