Folsom prison guard convicted of false report, cleared of assault

A former New Folsom prison lieutenant was acquitted Monday of assaulting an inmate despite testimony from five fellow guards, but he was convicted of filing a false report. The case involving Stephen Luke Scarsella renews the debate over what whistle-blowers and a federal court-appointed monitor say is a pervasive "code of silence" within the state's prison system, and over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration's attempts to clean up what critics say is an often abusive system. Five guards, including a sergeant, testified that Scarsella, a 49-year-old former lieutenant, dragged inmate Mel Edward by his leg chains partly down a stairway, then punched the defenseless inmate twice in the face. Edward was being forcibly removed from his cell at California State Prison, Sacramento, commonly known as New Folsom, on June 8, 2002. The guards said they were subsequently derided as "rats" by fellow officers, and ostracized for speaking out. Scarsella was fired after the incident. [more]