Robert L. Brooks, 43, died on Dec. 10 at an Oneida County hospital a day after he had been beaten by multiple officers at Marcy Correctional Facility
UTICA -- Court documents filed by State Police earlier this week confirm that an inmate at Marcy Correctional Facility was handcuffed when he was beaten by multiple correction officers a day before he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Details of the assault, first reported by the Times Union, were outlined in a deposition by an investigator with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The statement was filed by State Police in several court cases in which they sought temporary protective orders from a judge allowing them to seize any firearms in the possession of three of the 13 correction officers who were suspended after being implicated in the incident.
The deposition from Ryan Paparella, who was formerly a correction officer at Marcy and has been an investigator in the department's Office of Special Investigations for more than three years, cites footage from body cameras worn by the officers as he described a systematic beating of 43-year-old Robert L. Brooks, whose hands were restrained behind his back in handcuffs.
The incident unfolded after Brooks was transported to Marcy prison earlier this month from nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility, where he had been assaulted at least twice by other inmates, according to law enforcement sources. The deposition from Paparella does not give any indication that Brooks tried to bite an officer -- as they had allegedly claimed -- or that he was resisting or being combative.
Paparella said the video footage showed two officers pull Brooks up to a seated position on an exam table in an intake unit at Marcy prison before one of them could be seen striking Brooks in the chest with a closed fist. The second officer steadied Brooks before the officers grabbed him by his collar and shoulder areas, lifted him off his feet and dragged him to a corner and pushed him against a wall. Five other officers, including a sergeant, were standing nearby watching, he said.
When a sergeant subsequently returned to the room, where officers had continued pushing Brooks into a wall, he could be seen on his back on an exam table before he was subsequently carried into the prison's infirmary.
The investigator's deposition then cuts off before it continues on a second page, stating: "The male was on the ground at that time. I observed correction officers pick up the male off the ground who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The hands of the black male were extended directly above his head as his upper torso was parallel with the ground. They continued to walk the male down the sidewalk and towards an open door of the infirmary."
Multiple officers then stood around Brooks as he was placed on an examination table with his hands still restrained behind his back in handcuffs, the deposition states. One of the officers began to strike Brooks repeatedly with his right hand as a second sergeant and other officers watched.
Two of the officers "can then be seen holding (inmate) Brooks in an upright sitting position and (inmate) Brooks appears to be bleeding from the right side of his face," the deposition states. Another officer lifted his leg and appeared to make contact with Brooks torso "near the genital area," the investigator said. Another officer delivered a "right-handed strike" to Brooks and moments later that officer and another officer appeared to be applying pressure to Brooks' upper body.
While Brooks was still being restrained by multiple officers, another officer punched him three times in the buttocks, according to the court records.
The deposition -- a sworn statement the corrections investigator gave to State Police on Dec. 12 -- did not include any time elements to indicate how long the incident lasted. Another court record, filed by a State Police investigator, indicates a medical examiner has preliminarily determined that Brooks died as a result of "asphyxia due to compression of the neck."
The corrections investigator's statement said that at the point where an officer had struck Brooks in the buttocks, another officer could be seen rubbing Brooks' sternum, which law enforcement sources said had apparently been done to revive him. That was occurring as another officer entered the room and began to apply leg restraints to Brooks. The multi-page deposition notes an officer "can be seen with his right hand on the front of (inmate) Brooks' neck as he is laying on his back on the exam table with leg restraints and his hands in mechanical restraints behind his back as (two correction officers) look on."
The Times Union reported previously that body cameras worn by some of the correction officers involved in the assault were passively recording portions of the incident even though their devices had not been turned on.
Daniel F. Martuscello III, commissioner of the corrections department, issued a memo earlier this month clarifying that officers' body cameras must be actively recording anytime they are interacting with an inmate. Martuscello's memo also noted that every employee "has a duty to immediately report any individual who intentionally or unintentionally circumvents the (body-worn camera) policy."
The commissioner noted that Brooks' death was being investigated at his request by the State Police, the state attorney general's office and the Office of Special Investigations within the corrections department.
"Anyone found to have violated the law or DOCCS policy will be held accountable," he wrote. "There is no place in DOCCS for anyone who violates our policies or the law, and anyone who does will be held accountable."
Law enforcement sources briefed on the investigations unfolding at Marcy Correctional Facility said the camera footage of the incident retrieved from cloud-based servers after the fact has provided the most crucial evidence implicating the staff members who were involved. They said some of the officers whose cameras were passively recording the incident -- without being manually activated to record -- were apparently unaware of that technology or that the data could be retrieved.
More than a dozen correction officers, including two sergeants, allegedly had at least some involvement in the incident in which Brooks was bludgeoned while in restraints.
The Times Union had reported exclusive details of the incident, including that Brooks was beaten after allegedly attempting to bite a correction officer. But law enforcement sources said that allegation was allegedly fabricated by officers in statements filed after the incident.
Under a section of Executive Law that went into effect in April 2021, the state attorney general's office is empowered to investigate incidents in which civilians are killed during encounters with police or correction officers. That office has obtained footage of the incident at Marcy and is expected to release portions of the video in the coming days.
On Monday, members of Brooks' family and their attorney, Elizabeth Mazur, were allowed to view portions of the video ahead of its public release.
"As expected, watching the horrific and violent final moments of Robert's life was devastating for his loved ones, and will be disturbing to anyone who views the video following its release by the attorney general's office," they said in a statement. "We will not rest until we have secured justice for Robert's memory, and safety for the prisoners at Marcy Correctional Facility."
Thirteen correction officers and a nurse at the medium-security prison near Utica were placed on administrative leave or suspended in the wake of Brooks' death.
On Saturday, a day after the Times Union exclusively reported details of the incident, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement saying she had asked Martuscello to initiate termination proceedings against the 12 remaining officers and also the nurse.
"This action is in the best interest of the agency and the communities we serve," Martuscello said in a statement Saturday. "I denounce their actions in the strongest terms. There is no place for brutality in our department and we will vigorously pursue justice against the individuals who committed this senseless act. These investigations are ongoing and additional suspensions may be issued."
Brooks, a former resident of Monroe County, had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for his 2017 conviction of first-degree assault for stabbing a former girlfriend multiple times.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which represents correction officers at state prisons, issued a statement last weekend saying members of their executive board had viewed a small portion of a video of the Dec. 9 incident and described it as "incomprehensible."
"When this footage is released to the public, it will undoubtedly draw comparisons to other high-profile incidents of violence involving law enforcement," the statement said. "This incident not only endangers our entire membership but undermines the integrity of our profession. We cannot and will not condone this behavior."