Delaware State News
WILMINGTON - A task force selected by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to review the state Department of Correction and its largest prison began laying the groundwork Monday for what its members agreed will be a sizable job with little time to do it.
The seven-member panel, created by Gov. Minner's Executive Order 60, is directed to submit a report no later than Jan. 31, 2005, on the July 12 captivity and rape of a counselor at the Delaware Correctional Center.
The order also says the task force "shall provide recommendations for improving security conditions at (DCC) and/or other state correctional facilities.''
"We have a lot to do and not a whole lot of time to do it in,'' said former Court of Chancery Chancellor Grover Brown, who was elected to chair the group.
Attorneys for counselor Cassandra Arnold, 27, attended Monday's meeting at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington, offering their opinions as to what the focus of the probe should be.
"From our perspective there are three main themes to what you are trying to accomplish,'' said Herbert G. Feuerhake, one of Ms. Arnold's lawyers.
"The first is why this July 12 incident happened. The second is how was this incident handled? The third thing that we hope you investigate is what is wrong with the Delaware Correctional Center, and by way of extension, what is wrong with the Department of Correction.''
Ms. Arnold sued the state in federal court last week, claiming ongoing security breaches, inadequate staffing and ineffective supervision by top prison officials directly contributed to her ordeal.
Gov. Minner ordered the independent probe after receiving DOC's review of the July 12 incident, in which inmate Scott A. Miller abducted Ms. Arnold at knifepoint.
Miller, a serial rapist serving 699 years in prison, kept prison negotiators at bay for almost seven hours, raped his victim and finally was shot to death by a correctional officer.
While not directly criticizing the DOC report and its lack of conclusions and/or recommendations for security improvements, the governor wasted little time ordering a second view.
"After receiving a copy of the report, I have decided we need an independent investigation by community leaders,'' Gov. Minner said.
Task force members said Monday one of the first matters of business would be to tour the area of DCC where Ms. Arnold was taken hostage and assaulted.
"I would like to see the facility,'' said member Rebecca Batson Kidner, a Dover attorney. "I think it would be good to familiarize ourselves with what door was propped open and what intercom didn't work.''
The group also said Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor should be interviewed first, as well as Ms. Arnold.
Panel member Vincent A. Bifferato Sr., a retired Superior Court judge, said he knows Mr. Taylor and would set up the interview, hopefully in conjunction with a tour of DCC.
"I will ask him to meet with us either before or after the tour to answer any questions we may have,'' Mr. Bifferato said.
Ms. Arnold's lawyers said she would be available for an interview at the panel's request.
Other essential tools, panel members said, would be full access to DOC policies and procedures, as well as investigations by the state police and attorney general's office concluding the officer's use of deadly force against Miller was justified.
Mr. Bifferato said he understands there were at least two previous investigative reports that were done years ago on DCC before Gov. Minner took office.
Elizabeth Welch, a DOC spokeswoman, told the Delaware State News after the meeting that DOC does not have "immediate access'' to the reports and is attempting to locate them.
Panel member Guy Sapp recalled his tenure as director of the state's Youth Rehabilitative Services division, which includes the Ferris School for juvenile offenders in New Castle County.
From that experience, Mr. Sapp stressed the panel needs to stay focused and not get burdened in "minutiae."
He suggested four main areas for attention relative to the July 12 incident:
l Rule out any extraordinary circumstances
l Analyze the resources available
l Scrutinize policies and procedures to see if they were sufficient and if they were followed
l Look at possible human error.
"I think (July 12) was preventable,'' Mr. Sapp said. "If you eliminate the first three items, the only other explanation is human error, either by omission or co-mission. Somebody didn't get it right.''
Mr. Sapp said the panel should contact the attorney general's office concerning negotiations with Miller during the seven-hour standoff.
"At some point, we may want to interview somebody from the attorney general's office,'' he said. "I understand they were serving in an advisory role during the negotiations with inmate Miller.''
Attorney General M. Jane Brady told the State News the "advisory role'' was for legal advice only.
"We were not involved in any way with the actual negotiations,'' she said. "We did have a telephone conference with DOC regarding the law and the use of deadly force. That was it. We were called when it was over.''
Jeffery K. Martin, Ms. Arnold's other attorney, called for a strong investigation, not only into the July 12 incident, but also into what he said are ongoing security lapses within DOC.
He said he received two communications last week from individuals he declined to identify to the panel.
"One was from DCC and the other was from the Sussex Correctional Institution,'' Mr. Martin said.
"Both reported that they have open doors in both facilities, where doors are continuing to be propped open, even now after the scrutiny that has been given the propped doors.
"In SCI they're actually using (cola) bottles. In DCC they are using the 'chocks' they've been using all along. Hopefully, when your report comes out, this situation will be remedied, if not before.''
Mr. Feuerhake said the task force needs to take a serious look at prison understaffing, which he said has become the "de facto'' policy of the state.
He said other important areas are whether outdated policies and procedures are being used in DCC and DOC in general, and what are the "practices and customs'' of personnel at DCC.
"Regardless of what policies and procedures are supposed to be, officers and management personnel act in a certain way,'' he said. "It's very important you get to the nub of the truth.
Mr. Martin asked the panel not to rely solely on DOC's internal report of the July 12 incident.
"(Don't) just assume that what is there is in black and white and is something you cannot further question,'' he said.
The panel agreed to meet next on Nov. 3 or Nov. 5, depending on schedules. If arrangements can be made, a tour of DCC would be included.
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Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or at teldred@newszap.com.
