Commissioner to seek independent review of guards' response to prison attack

The near death of an inmate last month and the way prison guards at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield handled the incident will be investigated by an outside entity, Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito said Thursday.

Commissioner to seek independent review of guards' response to prison attack 8:47 PM, May. 24, 2012 | Written by Sam Hemingway, Burlington Free Press Staff The near death of an inmate last month and the way prison guards at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield handled the incident will be investigated by an outside entity, Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito said Thursday. Inmate Ryan John, 19, of Newport was found asphyxiated — with a sheet wrapped tightly around his neck — inside the cell of another inmate, Dakota Gardner, 21, of Springfield on April 23. John was listed in critical condition at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for several days before recovering. John is now back at the Springfield prison. Gardner, who earlier in April was charged in U.S. District Court with writing letters threatening to injure Gov. Peter Shumlin and kill President Barack Obama, has been moved to a federal facility. A criminal investigation of the asphyxiation incident by the Vermont State Police is ongoing. Pallito, who has maintained workers at the prison followed proper protocols during the incident and likely saved John’s life, said Thursday that he decided to seek to have an outside entity conduct an independent investigation following discussions with the governor’s office and Human Services Secretary Douglas Racine. “Given the gravity of what happened, the secretary or the Governor’s Office remarked it might be worth having someone independent come in and have a look,” Pallito said. “I think me saying our staff did a remarkable job is different than somebody else coming in and saying this is what happened. It’s a good learning experience.” Pallito said an internal review of the incident by his department showed that guards discovered that someone had covered up the window to Gardner’s cell less than three minutes after it occurred. He said guards entered the cell five minutes later and began efforts to resuscitate John. Pallito said he decided to ask for an independent investigation a few days ago and contacted Defender General Matt Valerio to ask Valerio if his office would undertake the task. Pallito, however, did not disclose his plan until Thursday, two days after Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, sent him an email raising questions about the incident.