Officers remain on duty after inmate's death

BEACON — The correction officers involved in an altercation with Fishkill Correctional Facility inmate Samuel Harrell the night he died remain on duty, according to the officers’ union.

Their statuses also have not been modified from full duty, spokesman James Miller of New York state Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, Inc. said.

Harrell, 30, died April 21 at Fishkill Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison. His death was ruled a homicide by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office. Homicide is a term used to describe the death of one person caused by another person, but does not necessarily mean that a crime has been committed.

Harrell was handcuffed, repeatedly punched and kicked, and then thrown or dragged down some stairs, according to the affidavits published last week in the New York Times.

State police and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision are individually investigating the incident and the Dutchess County District is awaiting the results to determine whether a grand jury should be convened.

Whether the officers are relieved from duty would "depend on the nature of the findings" of the investigations, Miller said. "There is no reason to speculate until the investigation is complete."

Meanwhile, Harrell’s family is planning a civil suit on behalf of his estate.

Miller said the union will represent the officers in a civil suit, but declined to say whether the union would represent them in a criminal lawsuit.

“(I) don’t want to speculate on that,” Miller said. “There is no indication at this time there will be any criminal charges ... As far as we know the investigation is not complete yet. No one has been found at fault.”

Eight days after Harrell died, the prison's superintendent and other senior staff met with an inmate liaison committee.

Superintendent William Connolly, who has since left, told the inmate committee he was aware of allegations of excessive force at the facility, according to minutes of that meeting obtained by the Poughkeepsie Journal.

He also indicated he was concerned some inmates might take matters into their own hands. And he vowed to "do his job" in response to what committee members said was unnecessary brutality inflicted on inmates there.

There are seven prisons located in and around the mid-Hudson Valley, including Wallkill Correctional Facility, Shawangunk Correctional Facility, Ulster Correctional Facility, Eastern New York Correctional Facility, Downstate Correctional Facility, Green Haven Correctional Facility and Fishkill Correctional Facility. The prisons employ thousands of people in the region and represent a significant impact on the local economy.

Reporter John Ferro contributed to this report. Amanda Purcell: apurcell@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4807; Facebook.com/pojopurcell; Twitter: @amandajpurcell