Thread by @KlasfeldReports

Good morning from New York.

I'll be live-tweeting a hearing today at 11 a.m. in the case of #MDCBrooklyn inmate Jose Segura-Genao, whose attorney first complained about the power outage there on Jan. 31.

Here's a snippet from the letter.

Background: courthousenews.com/lawyers-blast-…

Later that day, Mr. Segura-Genao's attorney filed a follow-up letter informing the judge of other cases related to the MDC outages. Here's the story of Dino Sanchez, whose attorney's affidavit is included in the linked file. documentcloud.org/documents/5725…

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ordered two MDC officials to testify today: June Bencebi and Anthony Sanon.

She also allowed the defense to call witnesses about the conditions at MDC.

As of Monday, the government dug into its denials that the power outage affected the heat and water.

"MDC informs us that the electrical outage did not cause the heat to go out, nor did it lead to a lack of hot water, because those systems were not affected by the power outage."

In their 3-page motion, the government requested that an adjournment to today's proceedings until Judge Torres could tour MDC.

Swiftly and unceremoniously denied. documentcloud.org/documents/5725…

And so there we are.

General bustle in the courtroom in the lead-up to the hearing, which is about to begin.

Standby.

"All rise."

The judge enters.

"Good morning."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Portlock speaks for the government.

Ezra Spilke represents Mr. Segura-Genao, along with @GideonOliver and Sarah Kunstler.

Segura-Genao entered.

Judge Torres starts proceedings by describing the filings that she received.

"Today, I will hear testimony from individuals who have experienced the conditions at MDC firsthand."

She notes that the Federal Defenders filed a civil lawsuit yesterday and that a judge issued a TRO.

"Today, after this hearing is over, I will be visiting MDC."

Segura-Genao's attorney call first witness. Standby for spelling of her name and affiliation.

Rhonda Barnwell, who has worked for more than a decade as a health information tech for medical records at MDC Brooklyn, is sworn in as a witness.

"Over the past week, we've experienced some heat issues as well as we had no electricity."

"No heat, and we also had an electrical fire."

She says that MDC experienced "very cold temperatures" about "a week" before the fire.

"They told the staff members to bundle up during that time," Barnwell testified.

She said that she didn't notice whether the incarcerated people were having problems with the heat at that time.

An exchange about the lights-out:

Q: What kind of working conditions did that create for staff?
A: For me, it felt like it created a dangerous environment.

Barnwell said that this created blind spots in the jail, which created the risk of inmate and staff assaults.

Questioning the witness is attorney Sarah Kunstler.

After Kunstler asked if the electricity issues put lives at risk in MDC, the government objected. Sustained.

Torres: You say that the fire was on a Sunday. When was it that you say the media came?

Witness: I can't recall.

The witness was quoted in the press as saying: "They're just waiting for a disaster to happen."

Asked about this remark, Barnwell stands by it: "Absolutely."

"I'm thinking that if the media didn't come, we'd still be in the same situation," she added.

Q: Are there problems with leaks at the facility?
A: Yes.

Asked to elaborate, Barnwell says there's leaks "throughout the institution" and "massive floods."

Asked whether she remembers describing MDC as a "virtual icebox," Barnwell says "No."

Q: While the COs had access to hats and gloves and coats, did the inmates have access to extra materials?

Barnwell replies they had blankets but no extra materials.

Gov't cross-ex starts.

The cross-ex and recross zipped by in a blur.

Barnwell's testimony ends.

Up next is John Maffeo, a facility manager at MDC.

Ezra Spilke asks him whether there was a problem with the heat recently at MDC.

"Correct," Maffeo says, estimating that it started a week or two before the fire.

Torres: When did you become aware of the problem?
A: I became aware of the problem on Jan. 21.

Spilke noticed that the problematic units had to be taken out and asks whether there was a contingency plan for heating cells.

Maffeo: "They did bring in blankets, extra blankets, to the housing units."

Torres: Could you record the temperature when the heating it is was not working?
Maffeo: On the 21st? I don't believe we did it on the 21st.

Torres presses on whether he did it after. The gov't offers a list of temperatures Maffeo recorded after that.

"If they will refresh his recollection, that's fine," Torres says.

He's given the documents.

"These are temperature readings that we took throughout the institution," he says.

Spilke objects to its admission: "I'm not sure that I can offer it as a business record. He didn't take all of the readings himself."

Maffeo says that these readings were not routine.

"No, we took the temperature readings because we knew we were heading to the cold weather," he says.

Maffeo recounts being notified about the fire by a staff member while he was at home.

The staffer "told me that there was a fire in that area of the building, on the first floor, and I told him to contact the operations lieutenant," he said.

"I told him that I'm on my way in," Maffeo adds.

Q: What happened next?
A: He says that FDNY was onsite when he arrived and extinguished the fire and the power was "knocked off service."

Due to the extent of damage, Maffeo says, he knew it would be a "prolonged issue." Maffeo says that he has an electrical background.

"I knew it wasn't going to be a quick, overnight, return to service type of repair," he testified.

Spilke asks whether the power outage affected the phones.

Maffeo said that the inmate and staff phones are two separate systems: for security and "monitoring" reasons.

The power knocked out the monitored lines.

Q: Did you consider this power outage to be an emergency?
A: Of course.

The fire knocked out "Priority 3" equipment, Maffeo testifies.

He says "Priority 1" and "Priority 2" equipment was powered through "the whole incident."

I'll try to define that jargon as soon as I receive clarification.

Maffeo says that there's no way to transfer power from the "Priority 1" and "Priority 2" to the "Priority 3" equipment.

Inmate computers and phones are "Priority 3" equipment.

Q: Is there a priority below "Priority 3"?

Maffeo replies that no, that is the lowest.

Maffeo says that it could take "up to a year" to replace some of the broken equipment. Unclear which.

Cross-examination begins.

AUSA Portlock tries to admit the temperature readings.
Spilke doesn't object.

It's admitted.

Redirect:

Spilke asks about whether Maffeo or anyone on his staff took the temperature of the medical records area.

A: Yes.

Q: Is that reflected in your notes?
A: Yes.

Spilke asks what time of day it was taken.
Maffeo says he doesn't know and only started recording time on Feb. 1.

Maffeo: "We used a laser point and aim measuring gun."
Spilke: "You mean like this?"

Spilke brandishes the equipment in the air and hands it to the witness.

Q: Was it actually that model?
A: No, it was not.

Maffeo points the laser gun to courtroom wall and takes a reading: 73.7.

On the floor, it's 73.6 degrees.

Spilke asks whether the temperature varies depending on where you point in the room.

Q: If an inmate got out of bed, might that affect the reading?

Maffeo says it might "slightly."

Q: The only way that you recorded the temperatures was by writing it down.

Maffeo agrees.

Redirect ends, and the next witness is coming up: Miguel Cruz.

Defense attorney Sarah Kunstler notes that Cruz is a defendant and MDC inmate.

She wants to limit cross-examination to the conditions at MDC, not criminal history or pending cases.

* former MDC inmate.

Cruz testified that was released at the end of January.

"When I first went in, the lights went off, and then the next day, the lights went back on."

Kunstler pivots to the Jan. 27, the day of the fire.

Cruz: "It was cold. It didn't have AC that first day. There was no AC. There was no heat." ...

"I couldn't sleep because it was cold."

He said that he was sleeping in his jumpsuit. He was completely dressed and had two pairs of socks on.

Cruz testifies that his bunkmate put book covers over the vent.

There was still no electricity when he left, on Jan. 30.

Kunstler asks him about his meals during that time.
A: Two sandwiches. A bologna and cheese and another.

Q: Did you receive hot meals?
A: No.

"It was always dark," he says.

"There was no light in the cell."

Q: Even during the day.
Yes, he replies.

"It's horrible. It's horrible. I don't like it."

"You're locked in your cell. You can't even press the emergency button because [no one] would respond."

Q: Did you get clean laundry during this time?
A: No.

Cruz testifies that he could take a shower every 72 hours.

"I wasn't going to take a shower in frozen water," he says.

Q: Was it still a problem when you left?

Cruz replies that there was still no hot water.

Q: What about people with special diets?
A: No, there weren't getting nothing.

A Hindu inmate only had water and bread during that time, Cruz says.

Q: Were you able to get in contact with your family.
A: No.

"It was stressful," he said. "They're the only people who make me feel comfortable."

Q: Were you able to go to recreation?
A: They ain't let us go outside. They didn't want us to go out in the yard.

Describing his release, Cruz says: "I was surprised. I was crying."

Torres abruptly interrupts. Times up. No cross-ex. No redirect. Next witness.

Up now is Vivienne Guevara, a director of social work at Federal Defenders of New York.

Clarification on the last witness: Torres interrupted the direct examination because the time was up. The government had the opportunity for cross-examination but declined it. That's why the prior witness's testimony abruptly ended.

Guevara describes hearing the echoing of clicking from the MDC walls from outside the prison.

She made a video that Spilke offers as an exhibit.

Note: It sounds like several of the other viral videos of the clanging outside the MDC that made the rounds on Twitter on Feb. 1.

The judge does not allow the witness to comment on what the noise was.

Torres: She's hearing a noise and now, she's essentially guessing how the noise was produced.

"I've never heard that sound outside the MDC, ever," Guevara recounts.

Q: How did it make you feel?

Objection. Overruled.

A: It was shocking to hear. It's not a sound that you normally hear... To me as a social worker... it sounded like a cry for help.

"It sounded desperate and it sounds like people who wanted to be heard," she says.

Direct examination ends. No cross examination. Next witness.

Hai June Bencibi, case manager at MDC and a local treasurer at the jail's union, takes the stand.

Kunstler questions Bencibi about the heating problems.

"I remember it was supposed to be the coldest day of the year," Bencibi says, not recalling the date.

Q: Was that in January?
A: Yes.

Q: Did that predate the fire at the facility?
A: Yes.

She recalls putting on a winter hat, a couple pairs of gloves and then a coat. She says she also saw others bundling up.

She testifies that it became a problem again on Martin Luther King Day.

"I remember on Martin Luther King Day, it was extremely cold," Bencebi says.

She said that other staffers used a space heater, but she did not have one.

"A couple of the inmates said that they were cold. Some of my elderly inmates said that they were cold."

Torres asks if there were "physical manifestations" of inmates being cold.

Bencebi replies that she didn't interact with the inmates on those days.

Torres asks if there was heat coming out of the vents on three cold dates she describes, the third being Jan. 27.

"No," Bencebi replies.

Q: When you spoke to the press to the New York Times, you said, "They just stay huddled up in bed," you were referring to the inmates?
A: Yes.

Torres: In what areas of the building did you observe the inmates huddled.
A: In their cells, on the 4th floor.

Q: Did you see any extra blankets given to them?
A: No.

Same with space heaters.

Torres: You were wearing more clothing than they were, was that correct?
A: I couldn't say.

She says she didn't observe.

Q: Is this a safe situation for staffers on the unit?
A: I would say, no. It isn't a safe situation for the staff.

She testifies that the government shutdown aggravated the situation.

She says that union members complained about the cold, "particularly at night," and that she related those complaints to the union president.

Kunstler asks whether family visits have been restored.

"I have no idea," Bencebi says.

Again, the government has no cross-examination.

Up now is Anthony Sanon, a senior specialist and union president at MDC.

Spilke questions him.

Q: The problems with the electricity started a couple of weeks before [the fire]?

Sanon replies that's correct.

Approximately two weeks before, he says, but he doesn't know because he wasn't in the institution at the time.

"From what I was told, they told me the entire building was affected at that time," Sanon says.

Q: That includes staff-only floors?
A: That includes everybody.

Q: Did you receive any complaints about this power outage from your members?
A: Yes.

Torres: What were there specific complaints?
Sanon replies lighting was a big one, because it poses a security issue and impeded their ability to detect contraband.

Spilke: So are you saying inmate morale affects your members, as well?
A: Yes.

Q: Did you bring those concerns to the attention of management?
A: Yes, I did.

Q: And, did anything happen?
Sanon says that management told him that they were going to take care of it.

Q: As local president, were you satisfied with the responses you were getting from management?
A: No, I was not.

Sanon describes his tours with Congress officials and others.

He says that the heating is "completely fixed" now.

"The institution has heat," Sanon says.

He testifies that this was the first time he observed heating problems at MDC.

Again, the government has no cross-examination.

Spilke calls the next witness: New York City Council member @JumaaneWilliams.

Q: At some point, did you tour the MDC?
A: Yes.

"We heard some news that things weren't going well there," Williams said, adding later: "We went down there to check it out for ourselves."

Torres: What day did you visit?
A: Saturday, [Feburary] 2nd.

* February, forgive the typo.

He says that his tour - with a contingent of electeds - lasted more than an hour.

He said the inmates had been on lockdown.

"It was pretty astonishing, actually," he said. "There were people we were trying to connected to get medical attention."

One had an eye infection.

Williams said the most "astonishing thing was the lack of urgency."

"I reached out to the Mayor's office to say, 'We need to push again. At least get the trucks there,'" Williams said.

He said that the blankets were not distributed; there was no emergency plan, and "there was no plan to create a plan."

Q: You said, "Let's just get the trucks there" or something like that; the trucks were carrying what?

Hundreds of blankets and portable generators, Williams replies.

"Where is your plan? You don't seem to have a plan," Williams recalled saying.

Williams testifies that MDC officials seemed to be annoyed that he and other electeds were there and cared about the prisoners.

Williams said that he saw eight to 10 inmates.

He said that he was there in the day, but the lights were off. "At least two of the cells" had inadequate heat by the time they arrived.

Some of the inmates blocked the vents to prevent cold air from coming in, he says.

By then, the inmates hadn't showered for three days, Williams said.

Direct examination ends. Again, no cross-ex. Next witness.

Up now is Donnell Murray, an MDC inmate. Kunstler questions him.

Recounting the power outage after the fire, Murray testifies: "The lights was out. The heat was off, and we was locked in."

"It was hard on me because it was dark," he said. "It was cold. I was nervous."

He said that the temperature in his cell was between 30 to 40 degrees.

Murray said he knows because the corrections officer [CO] took a reading in his cell.

The CO was bundled up. Murray was not, he said.

"I had nothing to bundle up [in]," he says.

Q: Was there air coming in through the vent in your cell?
A: Yes.

Q: What kind of air was that?
A: Cold air.

Murray said he asked for mental health treatment on Monday, and hasn't received it.

He said last saw his lawyer at the beginning of January, and he's about to go to trial. He says it's part of the reason he requested treatment.

Q: Did you have access to hot food during this period?
A: The food was cold when it came to my cell.

Q: Do you feel ready for trial in your case, sir?
A: No, I don't.

Kunstler: No further questions.

Questioned by Judge Torres, Murray says his cellmate wore the same thin sweatshirt he did.

No cross-examination by the government.

Murray steps down.

Up now is MDC's assistant warden "to be identified by the government."

His name is Elezar Garcia (sp?).

Garcia describes the breaker system that separates inmate (cut by the power outage) and staffer phones (not cut by the power outage).

Garcia says that there's no commissary when the computers are down.

Thermal underwear can only be purchased through commissary, Spilke notes.

No computer also means "no intelligence for us," if the prison needs to conduct intelligence research.

"Intelligence?" Torres interrupts.

Garcia gives the example of an inmate transferred from another jail. The computer outage would prevent them of learning about that prisoner.

Cross-examination by AUSA Portlock. She takes this one.

The brief cross-ex described the lockdown of the MDC to protect from threats.

No redirect.

Next witness: Dierdre Dionysia von Dornham, attorney-in-charge at the Federal Defenders of New York

* von Dornum

Questioned by Kunstler, Von Dornum describes the day of the fire and says that inmates reported an "acrid electrical smell."

Q: How did this fire affect your ability to do your job.

Von Dornum replies in "several ways," starting with attorney visits being curtailed.

Von Dornum says that the Federal Defenders have 500 to 600 clients there at any time, and none of the defense attorneys could see their clients.

"We were hearing truly alarmed reports," she says.

She said that she was in the middle of a multi-day bail hearing by a client with one kidney.

Seeking more information, Von Dornum said, she contacted the BOP.

"The response we got was, none, or that heating has not been affected," she said.

"It was hard to reconcile what I was hearing" from the BOP with reports from inmates throughout the building, who have no connection to each other and speak different languages, Von Dornum testified.

"I had clients with bloody sheets from colitis," she said.

"There was frost on people's windows," she said.

"People were begging me to call their lawyers," she continued later. "So I have personal knowledge that what the warden said was false."

Von Dornum: "I talked to people who said that they had seizures and pressed the emergency button, and no one came."

Von Dornum saw one inmate who was shot at the time of his arrest, and she said his bandages had not been changed for weeks. There was pus coming out of the bandage, she said.

Kunstler asks the witness to pick apart the details in Warden Quay's report that are inconsistent with what she saw.

She says the statement that "inmates have not been confined to their cells" and that they were allowed recreational activity is "false."

"Heat has never been impacted," Von Dornum said, is "false."

She recalls it being "quite cold" when she visited.

Torres asks to elaborate on the all the days that she personally observed cold temperatures or heard reports from her clients.

"They would get on the phone and beg," Von Dornum said.

"They were expressing real terror in a way that I haven't heard."

Von Dornum disputes that the warden's contention that hot water was not impacted.

"There was not hot water in some of the showers," she said.

Von Dornum also disputes the warden's claim that the inmates had hot meals and medical care.

When she visited, she recalled them saying: "Today is the first day" they received hot food.

She said an inmate reported losing 5 or 6 lbs in the past few days, & was denied treatment.

Von Dornum said that she learned that computer outage interfered with treatment.

Describing the client with colitis, the bloody sheets and the open wound, Von Dornum said that an MDC official claimed he was receiving treatment. He still had that open wound.

"The man with colitis and the open wound," she said, was put on the defense witness list but had to be hospitalized before today's hearings.

So Von Dornum says he will not testify.

Kunstler shows the witness the government exhibit of the MDC temperature readings.

Q: Do these temperature readings comport with your experience at the units?

Von Dornum said that she was not able to go into some of the cells, but that there was a "great temperature variation."

"Common areas, it generally reflects my experiences," she says, but in other areas, she added, it felt significantly lower than recorded.

While there is a pause in this proceeding, a quick note: There are several other reporters in the court.

At Guantanamo, there is usually one reporter, who typically live-tweets like this for military commission hearings. That's Carol Rosenberg, whom McClatchy offered a buyout.

I mention this to make a simple point: With layoffs and buyouts across the country, providing information about our institutions remains crucial.

Protect journalism.

Now, back to the feed.

Von Dornum describes the Federal Defenders phone as a free, unrecorded line.

There's a social phone that's a recorded phone, which inmates use by purchasing time from the commissary.

Von Dornum says that her clients unable to reach their families - with the social phones down - asked her to relate messages to them.

"Families were able to visit for the first time last night, which was great," she said.

Q: On Feb. 1, when you visited the facility, who else visited the facility?

Von Dornum said that she arrived at the same time as Rep. @NydiaVelazquez, but that MDC officials would not let them take tour around together.

Von Dornum said that one inmate slept on wet sheets because of leaks in the SHU.

Those are the so-called "special housing units" commonly known as "the hole" or solitary confinement.

Q: Why did you want to tour the facility with Congressperson Velazquez?

Von Dornum says two reasons: The congresswoman's Spanish is stronger than hers, and Von Dornum knows how to navigate the prison and push back against official denials of access.

Von Dornum said that Velazquez told her she was unable to speak to any inmate.

Kunstler says she has no more questions but wants the opportunity to possibly recall her later.

Judge Torres asks the witness what relief she wants.

"The biggest problem here is the lack of transparency," she says, and Von Dornum wants her help with that.

Von Dornum notes that, in the past, there were a number of forcible rapes at MDC.

"I do think that if the guards knew, if the management knew, that people could show up at any time," Von Dornum says, things might change.

She requests putting a special master in place.

Von Dornum says that MDC never has had a special master.

10 minute recess. Possible cross-examination ahead after that.

Von Dornum's cross-examination begins.

Q: Were you aware that the heat was generally back on?
A: Yes, I heard there was some inconsistency.

But yes, she adds.

Brief cross-examination ends.

Kunstler back up for redirect.

Next witness: John Ross, a supervisory special agent at @TheJusticeDept in the Eastern District of New York.

Ross describes touring MDC after the fire in late January: "Then we went down to the 6th floor and we went to the various units on the floor. For the most part, the units seemed okay, normal."

One of the units, he said, felt "cooler."

Torres: How were the corrections officers dressed on that day?

Ross: The correctional officers in the lobby had winter coats on.

Torres: What about the inmates? How were they dressed?

Ross: The inmates within the cells. Some had T-shirts on... Some had blankets over their heads.

Ross talks about an inmate with colitis and an open wound. Unclear if it's the same one.

Torres: Do you have any other observations concerning the temperature and the treatment of the inmate?

Ross says the temperature was "fine," but medical treatment "concerned me the most."

Kunstler cross-examines him, with one question asking what he was wearing.

Ross says he wore an overcoat over his clothing.

Q: Are you wearing an overcoat today?
A: No.

He wore a suit.

With that, Torres adjourns the hearing to visit the MDC, and she says she may reconvene depending on what she sees.

"We may be resuming later," she adds.

One request seeking judicial notice of Weather Channel data on the temperatures in NYC during the relevant time period.

That's it for now.

Story TK.

Here is my quick hit on today's proceedings on @CourthouseNews, but look out for another update soon. courthousenews.com/inmates-offer-…