Witnesses in a federal murder trial on Wednesday testified that an accused killer at the nation’s highest-security prison had ample chances to tell staffers that he was in mortal danger and thereby avoid a fatal clash in the exercise yard.
Witnesses — including Mark Collins, a former unit manager at Administrative Maximum U.S. Penitentiary, or ADX, in Florence — testified in the first-degree murder trial of Silvestre “Chikali” Rivera.
Collins contradicted assertions by Rivera’s attorneys that Rivera and accomplice Richard “Chuco” Santiago had to kill Manuel “Tati” Torrez, 64, because the leader of the Mexican Mafia put a hit out on them.
The defense claims that Torrez didn’t threaten Rivera and an accomplice until shortly before they stomped Torrez to death. By then, there was no opportunity to notify officers and his choice was to kill or be killed.
Collins said that before putting any inmates on the yard, they are allowed to see which inmates they will be sharing the yard with for a full week. They can see everyone in the yard, which is adjacent to their cells, through their cell window, he said.
If an inmate is concerned about going on the yard with someone — possibly someone he testified against or had a prison beef with — there are many ways he can get that message across to staffers without any fellow prisoners learning about the contact. Previous trial testimony indicated Rivera and Torrez had an ongoing feud.
“There are many, many avenues that an inmate can let the staff know of any concerns he has,” Collins said. “Our goal is to try to minimize the anxiety of going to the ADX.”
He said inmates can tell a counselor or slip a note under the cell door to numerous staffers who bring them food and check up on them around the clock.
Former ADX employee Paul Middleton testified that on April 19, 2005 — two days before the fatal attack — he saw Santiago and Rivera having an animated conversation on the yard. He noted that Torrez joined the conversation for a short period. It was Rivera’s first time on the yard in “Echo,” or E, unit.
Middleton said that if Rivera was concerned about his safety on the yard, he had numerous opportunities to tell staffers about his fears and they would have ensured the two never came into contact there.
are accused of killing Torrez on April 21, 2005.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney David Lane, Arroyo and other witnesses acknowledged that when an emergency alarm was sounded, staffers were sent to the wrong yard.
Lane asked Collins whether the 25-minute response to the fatal beating of Torrez was satisfactory.
“No, it was not,” Collins acknowledged.
Collins confirmed that Torrez had killed other inmates elsewhere and ordered knifings of inmates. He acknowledged that although staffers listen to all inmate phone calls and read all incoming and outgoing mail, they did not have audio listening devices in the yard and no one manned a “shark cage,” next to the yard to monitor inmates. He also said that, unlike in inmate cells, there were no “duress” buttons that inmates could push in the yard to get help.
