Trial of prison guards accused of beating defendant to death in court postponed until October

The trial of the prison guards accused in the death of pretrial defendant Quantez Burks at the Southern Regional Jail in West Virginia has been postponed until the fall.

The trial of six police officers involved in the prison deaths was scheduled to begin on July 29 in Beckley.

According to an order filed last week, the trial has now been postponed to 8:30 a.m. on October 8.

Mark Holdren, the attorney for one of the guards, asked for more time to prepare because of the large amount of evidence that needs to be reviewed. “The requested delay is not due to lack of preparation, lack of evidence or witnesses, or a crowded court schedule,” U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin wrote in a June 13 order granting the motion to continue the trial.

Five former correctional officers – Holdren, Ashley Toney, Cory Snyder, Johnathan Walters and Jacob Boothe – were charged in connection with an attack on Burks, who was identified in court records only by his initials.

All five correctional officers and former Lieutenant Chad Lester were also charged with covering up the use of unlawful force.

The central allegation is that after Burks attempted to get past a correctional officer and exit the prison’s C-Pod, officers handcuffed him and beat him in an interrogation room. The indictment says officers forcibly led him into the interrogation room, which already contained an inmate who was ordered to leave the room.

The officers then repeatedly beat and assaulted Burks, the indictment says, before forcibly transporting him to another location, known as the A-Pod, where he collapsed on the ground. Even afterward, the indictment says, the beating continued.

Holdren’s attorney’s request to delay the trial date suggests that the defense not only needs to sift through the volume of evidence, but also needs time to evaluate potential expert testimony. The filing indicates that this could include forensic testimony “regarding the injuries and cause of death of Quantez Burks.”

Additional testimony could focus on correctional officers’ training in use of force, defense tactics and report writing.

“Mr. Holdren needs additional time to evaluate the expected testimony of these government witnesses and to recruit and consult qualified experts to address the issues on which the government seeks to provide expert testimony,” Holdren’s attorney wrote.

Neither federal prosecutors nor Snyder, Lester, Boothe or Toney opposed the motion to delay the trial. Walters did not join the motion to adjourn.

Two other correctional officers, Andrew Fleshman and Steven Nicholas Wimmer, pleaded guilty last November to conspiracy to violate citizens’ rights under federal law for their role in Burks’ death.

Sentencing for Fleshman and Wimmer was scheduled for June 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Attorneys for both defendants recently filed motions to delay sentencing, saying the prison guards have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify about what happened inside the prison. The motions suggest that it would be wise to schedule sentencing after the other officers are tried.

An order issued this week by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia postpones the sentencing hearing until November 1 at 10 a.m.

Representatives for Wimmer filed a memorandum last week that could be used to determine an appropriate sentence. The memorandum argues for leniency and says Wimmer, now 25, was a young, impressionable prison guard who exercised poor judgment.

“Mr. Wimmer, then 22 years old, was among the youngest and least experienced officers present, and the incident report he provided to investigators was written under the direct supervision of a senior correctional officer,” his attorney wrote. “Mr. Wimmer has since provided the government with a more detailed report and stated that he felt pressured to emphasize certain factors and downplay others.”

“He was ‘harassed’ by the senior COs after the incident and feared retaliation against himself and his family if he did not comply with orders. Mr. Wimmer has attempted to mitigate his minor role in this incident by providing truthful and detailed statements to investigators and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”