Prison scribe tells of beating

A prisoner housed near Frank Valdes testifies that he took notes in his Bible as he heard screams and the sound "a hand makes on a body.''

©Associated Press
February 5, 2002

STARKE -- An inmate testified Monday that he heard guards beating death row inmate Frank Valdes shortly before he died and made notes about the attack inside his Bible.

Castro Flores, who took the stand in the fourth week of the state's murder case against three guards, testified about an alleged second beating of Valdes on July 17, 1999.

Flores, who was housed with Valdes on X Wing at Florida State Prison, testified he heard screaming and yelling from the quarterdeck, the cell block's lobby area.

"I know somebody is getting whupped," Flores said, adding he heard the sounds "a hand makes on a body." He explained, "I figured it was an inmate getting beat up."

Valdes already had been taken to the prison clinic after the first alleged attack earlier in the day. The guards then hauled Valdes to his X Wing cell and checked on him frequently, Flores said.

He said he took notes in his Bible about the beating and other abuse. He wrote in the white space at the bottom of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 13, next to Verse 8, which reads: "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."

"I was keeping track of all the assaults happening in the institution," he said.

Flores said he heard Valdes quit moaning about 3 p.m., and he was found unconscious in his cell about 15 minutes later. He died from severe internal injuries and had a boot print on his back.

On cross-examination, Flores testified he had read news accounts and heard talk of Valdes' death. He also said he had been treated for depression at a prison hospital.

The former guards charged with second-degree murder in Valdes' death are Capt. Timothy Thornton, 36, Sgt. Charles Brown, 28, and Sgt. Jason Griffis, 28.

Valdes had been sentenced to death for killing a Palm Beach County prison guard. Prosecutors charge he was killed to keep him from contacting news media about repeated abuse of inmates by X Wing guards.

An inmate librarian testified last week that Valdes had been told by a prison sergeant that he would be killed after the warden went on vacation July 16.

Defense attorneys claim Valdes was fatally injured by throwing himself off the bars in his cell into his bunk and the floor. Other guards are to be tried later.

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