Reasonable Doubt

Federal judge questions DOC chief's credibility

A A A Comments By Patti Epler and Bruce Rushton Thursday, Feb 19 2004

...continued from page 2

"The lesson was clearly learned," the two attorneys wrote. "It will not happen again."

The St. Louis case isn't the first time that videotapes chronicling use of force by guards have disappeared under a Schriro administration. While she was head of the Missouri Department of Corrections, three videotapes turned up missing after inmates sued the state. In one case, the state eventually produced an edited tape, but tapes in the other two cases remained missing.

Corrections director Dora Schriro

Governor Janet Napolitano

More About

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

The pattern was noted by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 upheld a $10,002 verdict against the state in the case involving the edited tape.

"We are aware that large bureaucracies cannot have a foolproof system for preserving records," the court wrote. "However, three missing videotapes in approximately five years of incidents giving rise to litigation within one prison system strikes us as more than mere coincidence."

Schriro, who holds a law degree, testified during an August deposition that she wasn't aware of any videotapes disappearing while she was director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Bruce Rushton is a staff writer for the Riverfront Times in St. Louis. E-mail patti.epler@newtimes.com, or call 602-229-8451.