The Daily News of Los Angeles

                August 24, 2003 Sunday, Antelope Valley Edition

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. AV1

LENGTH: 668 words

HEADLINE: GUARDS SUE PRISONERS;
LEGAL MOVE FOLLOWS ASSAULT BY FOUR INMATES

BYLINE: Karen Maeshiro, Staff Writer

BODY:

   LANCASTER - Three state prison guards have sued four inmates following
attacks last year at the prison in Lancaster in which one of the guards was
stabbed in the head with a homemade knife.

    The attorney for the correctional officers and officials with a prison guard
support group said the main objective of the lawsuit is to spotlight the
prisoners' actions.

    "It's not about the money. It's holding inmates accountable, having someone
say you shouldn't have done it," said Lisa Northam, a correctional officer and
executive director of the year-old California Correctional Crime Victims
Coalition.

    "Keep in mind monetary recovery is one objective. You'd be surprised that
some of these inmates do have assets," attorney Mark Peacock said. "The bigger
picture, though, is to send a message back to the inmates: If you do this, not
only will you suffer within the system but also suffer civil consequences as
well."

    The lawsuit was filed on behalf of correctional officers Mike Ayala, Tom
Case and Tom Vasquez against inmates Nicholas Nabors, David Martinez, Mark
Makonie and Ray Jackson, court records show.

    Case and Vasquez have returned to work at the California State Prison - Los
Angeles County, but Ayala, who suffered severe head trauma, will probably never
return to work, Peacock said.

    The attacks occurred the morning of Aug. 12, 2002, as a line of inmates was
being marched through Facility D, one of the prison's four maximum-security cell
blocks.

    Martinez fought with Case after Martinez was ordered to get back into a line
of inmates. As Vasquez came to his partner's aid, Nabors stabbed Vasquez in the
head twice with a weapon fashioned from metal stripping pulled off a food cart,
officials said.

    Case's jaw was dislocated and a bone was shoved into his sinus cavity,
officials said. He also suffered cuts and scrapes. Vasquez suffered two shallow
stab wounds, officials said.

    While the fight was going on, Ayala was attacked from behind and knocked
unconscious. Ayala could not identify his assailants.

    The attacks were planned by inmates unhappy about the prison enforcing
strict time schedules for eating, working and other activities, prison officials
said.

    More than 300 African-American inmates in the Facility D cell block were
barred from family visits as authorities investigated the attacks, a move
questioned by civil rights attorneys.

    Martinez was given a six-year sentence after pleading no contest to
possession of a weapon, prison officials said. Nabors, a convicted murderer,
already was serving a lengthy prison term, and prosecutors declined to file
charges against him.

    No other inmates were prosecuted because inmates were unwilling to testify
against each other, prison officials said.

    Charles Hughes, a correctional lieutenant at the Lancaster prison and
executive vice director of the coalition, said nearly 10 officers are assaulted
daily in California prisons.

    Officers are being stabbed, beaten and subjected to "gassing," where inmates
throw human waste at guards, Hughes said. Officers are being exposed to diseases
like hepatitis C and AIDS, Northam said.

    "Tommy Vasquez, when the inmates stabbed him and tried to kill him, when
Tommy was laying in the hospital bleeding, the next day was the first
anniversary with his wife," Hughes said.

    The coalition was formed to provide support to officers injured in assaults.

    "We formed out of a need, a need within the state. There was a void where
correctional staff who were injured fell through a hole. They would become
injured at work through an assault. After a few months they had questions that
needed to be answered, and concerns," said Northam, who works at Centinela State
Prison.

    Peacock said correctional officers face the most horrific working conditions
that one can possibly imagine.

    "Being attacked physically and in other ways is a daily threat and
occurrence for officers," Peacock said.

    Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744
karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com