Harassed by Correction Officers: One Mother's Story About Her Son in Prison

When your son is sent to prison you worry about him. You worry for his safety, and hope he won't be harmed in any way. But in Brandon's case, it was the Correction Officers who set him up to be hurt.

Toni, can you give us a Bio of yourself?

My name is Toni Gilbert. I live in Orange County, California. My husband and I have been self-employed in an Arborist Company for 25 years. We have three daughters, two are married with children, and the youngest daughter just graduated from USD in San Diego, on her way to Law School in Washington D.C. We love to travel and spend a great deal of time with our family.

Your son Brandon in incarcerated in a California prison unit, what was he convicted for and how long of a sentence did he receive?

Unfortunately, Brandon went through a tough period after his divorce and began doing drugs. During that time he did an armed robbery and as a first term criminal going to prison received a sentence of 24.4 years. No one was hurt. He also cannot be paroled early.

How is he housed?

Brandon's first year in prison was a double cell in a 270, 4 level yard. The past two years at Kern Valley he has lived in a double cell on a 180, 4 level yard. Which I was told is the highest security yard for hard core criminals. Since March 23, 2007, he has been housed in Ad Seg (the hole) in a double cell.

Are you able to visit with Brandon?

Before Brandon went to Ad Seg, I was able to have contact visits with him in a room with tables much like a cafeteria. The last contact visit was on Christmas Day 2006. Now that he is in Ad Seg, I have to make an appointment to see him for a one hour visit on one weekend day behind glass. Between Christmas and the move to Ad Seg, I did not see Brandon because kern Valley has been on lock down without visits most of the time. The last time he could call home was February 11, 2007. Twice I was turned away from my visit in February and March. I finally saw him behind glass April 7th then again May 12th. Visits have been far and few between because the prison keeps inmates in lock down most of the time. It makes their jobs easier if they don't have to let them out of their cells.

What were your biggest concerns when Brandon was sentenced to prison?

We have Law Enforcement family members, so we in one sense understand what is out there and know that there is good and bad in every walk of life. We also know the younger generation of correctional officers think it is their job to unleash greater punishment to those who are incarcerated. Many of them cross the line of abuse under the so called color of the law. Older correctional officers have admitted this is a problem. So the biggest worry has been our son's safety and rightly so. I am more worried about the correctional officers who are supposed to protect and keep order, than what an inmate might do to my son. Also the same rogue correctional officers are the very ones who bate and set up fights between the races and bet on them. It is out of control behind those walls.

I understand your son was set up to be hurt by Correction Officers, can you tell us about that?

My son was on his regular day off when a correctional officer came to his cell and told him to get up he was going to yard. You must understand that when it is your day off you aren't allowed out on the yard. So as anyone would do, Brandon complied because it was a chance to be outside. Shortly after he went out on the yard he was stabbed in the lower back by another inmate. It had been rumored that there was going to be some trouble with the whites that day. My son is white as was the other inmate who attacked him. My son then chased the inmate who stabbed him and they began to have a fist fight. The object Brandon was stabbed with was thrown over a 20 foot fence before the chase began. They were approximately 20 to 30 yards away from where the stabbing took place. While they were in the fist fight the same correctional officer who let him out of his cell earlier was also in the farthest tower from the fight. That correctional officer who is Hispanic, aimed at center mass on my son and shot his mini 14 amputating part of his left hand. Fortunately for my son he was a bad shot. If he would have shot him at center mass, my son would be dead. My son nor the other inmate had a weapon during the fist fight.

Why was he setup?

It is unknown by my son what is going on, but my son told me that in March of 2006, four months prior to this shooting, another inmate was stabbed and my son was taken in for questioning and released. One of the correctional officers said to Brandon at that time, that they would get him later. Brandon was not involved with that stabbing.

What injuries did he sustain?

Brandon had a stab wound in his lower back and his baby finger on his left hand was hanging and the ring finger was blown off below the knuckle closet to the palm of his hand and the top half of his middle finger was gone.

How was he treated medically, and will these injuries disable him for life?

The hospital they took him to put pins in his baby finger and they sewed it as close as they could to the middle finger and then put it in a cast. They took him back to the prison a couple of days later. After they took him back he was not given anything but Tylenol for a couple of days and weeks went by before they checked his hand a changed the bandages. He sent in slip after slip to be seen by the Doctor but was not seen. I kept receiving letters from the hospital about Brandon's missed appointments. Apparently Brandon gave my address for correspondence and the hospital not realizing it sent the information to me instead of the prison. That is how I knew he wasn't being seen by the Doctor. Brandon did not start getting physical therapy on his hand until April of 2007. He was shot July 26, 2006. It had been nine months since the shooting. Brandon is an Arborist by trade so until he resumes that line of work we have no idea how it will affect his productivity in that trade.

Are there any other incidents where you feel your son was harassed in any way by Correction Officers?

Since the shooting Brandon has under gone heavy remarks by the correctional officers. They have taken his property and lost most of it. They continue to ignore any requests he has had for medical. Most of the slips he gives them he knows are being thrown in the trash. His legal mail is held in the mail room for up to two weeks and when he receives it, it has been opened. If I send him a quarterly package he does not get it for up to two months and some of the food is spoiled. Since the lock down the inmates were given half rationing of food which that violates their Title 15 manual. Just recently while correctional officers checked his cell while he was hand cuffed in the back, kicked my son in the back of the knee to the ground then sprayed three cans of mace on him and cut his wrist. He was then charged falsely with conspiracy to make weapons to kill blacks. That is when he was taken to Ad Seg. Thank goodness my son is smart because he proved to the committee he went before that there was no evidence to that charge. All charges were dropped. That isn't the end of it. On the way back to Ad Seg after all charges were dropped, he was told he had to stay in Ad Seg by the correctional officer escorting him because he now has a pending 115 violation charging him with the possibility of having drugs. May I remind you that Brandon has been in lock down for months. These are all very serious charges because it could cause my son more time in prison and ultimately end up with a life sentence.

Have these officers been reported? If not, why not?

Some of the same correctional officers that were involved in the shooting are also involved with the conspiracy charges and the drug charges. We have an attorney working on excessive force charges against the correctional officers and medical neglect, which is one of the biggest problems in California's State Prisons. We have also sent many letters to government officials and finally I spoke with the warden on April 30, 2007. He is the sixth warden Kern Valley has had since the Prison opened two years ago. It is a slow process but we know we have to be persistent so the prison will know that our son does have family out of those walls and we are watching what they do in there.

What happens to CO's when there is a report about a wrongdoing they have done?

The CDCR is such a huge strong union in California that it is hard to bring correctional officers under any disciplinary actions. We are hoping to help make some changes in that. There are too many rogue correctional officers and that needs to change. From our view point they get away with too much because of their code of silence. The good officers are afraid to say anything.

At this time if there is anything you would like to add, please do so.

There needs to be a prison reform in California. There is so much that goes on inside those walls that the general public has no idea of. We as a family are in shock as to what really happens in prisons. We unfortunately believed everything politicians and the media said about how prisoners were treated. We too thought prisoners had it made. This has been an eye opener for us and many who know our son. We need to take charge of how our tax dollars are being spent and on whom it is being spent. CDCR needs to be investigated on how they allow correctional officers to behave. They have been given too much control and the State or Federal government needs to step in. We hope to enlighten the public about our prisons in California.

This Interview shows just a small example of prison abuse. Until the public is made aware that it's not just in Abu Ghraib where prisoners are abused, it's right here in our own nation, the abuse will continue. The inmates being abused will someday be released into society, angry and revengeful.