Pubdate: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Fresno Bee Contact: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.html Website: http://www.fresnobee.com/ Forum: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/projects/webforums/opinion.html Author: Lewis Griswold, The Fresno Bee EIGHT GUARDS SAY THEY DIDN'T HEAR CALLS FOR HELP Four Other Corcoran Guards Are On Trial In A Rape Eight current and former guards from Corcoran State Prison testified that they never heard inmate Eddie Dillard ask for help when he was being raped by his cellmate. The eight told the jury of seven men and five women that they worked shifts during the four days in March 1993 that Dillard shared a cell with Wayne Robertson. Four other guards are on trial for allegedly setting up Dillard to be raped by Robertson. Sgts. Robert Allan Decker and Dale Brakebill, and correctional officers Anthony Sylva and Joe Sanchez are being charged with aiding and abetting rape in concert, a felony punishable by up to nine years in state prison. The Attorney General's Office, prosecuting the case, has claimed that Dillard was purposely put in the cell with Robertson, a known "cellie raper," as punishment for kicking a female guard at another prison. Robertson, who weighs 220 pounds and stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, testified earlier that he forcibly raped his 118-pound cellmate, Dillard. Prison guards knew the two were documented enemies, he said, but put them together anyway. The guards who testified Monday said they had never heard Robertson referred to as "The Booty Bandit," a nickname given to him because of his reputation for sexually assaulting cellmates. Assistant Attorney General Vernon Pierson attempted Monday to dig away at the credibility of the guards who testified. He questioned former guard Celine Coelho about her statement to investigators last year that she believed in "sticking to green." When asked what the phrase meant, Coelho said it meant standing by fellow officers. "At heart, I'm an officer," Coelho said, looking toward the guards on trial. "I feel for these officers here." Fellow guard Maria Ortega, whom Dillard said earlier in the trial was present when he begged to be removed from the cell, said she never heard Dillard say a word. But she admitted under questioning by Pierson that she was several feet away in a noisy prison environment, preoccupied with her duties of pushing a loaded food cart. Two guards who worked the night shift when the rapes occurred testified that they shined their flashlights into the cell three times while doing inmate counts. They said they never saw any questionable behavior in Robertson's cell. Other guards who work in a control booth testified that they can see in cells from their seats, but admitted it's difficult to see at night and inside cells farthest away. More prison employees are expected to testify for the defense today about shortcomings in the way guards get information about inmates. At least two of the guards on trial are expected to take the stand Wednesday, lawyers said. "He's going to say he would never put an inmate into a cell to be sodomized by another inmate," said lawyer Katherine Hart, representing Brakebill. Lawyer Curtis Sisk, representing Decker, said he expects the defense to finish presenting the case by week's end. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D