UPDATE 7/03/08 - The investigation into the killing of Ronnie White is focusing on three corrections officers who are now refusing to cooperate in the investigation and are refusing to give statements.
Richard Finley and Ronnie White
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Ronnie White, 19, was being held in maximum security in the Prince George’s County Correctional Center. He had been charged with first-degree murder in regards to the dragging death of 39-year-old Richard Finley. Finley was a Prince George’s County police officer. 12 hours after White was booked in jail, officers came to feed White and found him slumped in his cell, unresponsive. Or more specifically, dead. The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled Monday that his death was from asphyxiation and strangulation.
Now, here is a bit of info on the death of Finley, a 10 year veteran of the force and a volunteer firefighter with a wife and two children. Findley was part of a team investigating car thefts and had been checking on a truck, driven by White, that had been reported stolen. When Finley got out of his cruiser he was killed when White “intentionally accelerated” toward Findley, striking and dragging him in the parking lot. White was arrested a short time later at a nearby apartment complex.
It is being reported that seven guards had access to White at the time of his death, as well as a number of supervisors.The possibility of someone from the outside having access to the inmate is also being investigated. There is a lot of information on this case, but I am pressed for time so I am just putting up the basics. This police department has seen past problems, and this jail as well. I’ll update throughout the day.
Snippet of timeline from washingtonpost.com:
Saturday
12:24 a.m.: White is admitted to the correctional center. Before being placed in a cell, he is given a medical assessment, according to the Corrections Department. He is given a clean bill of physical and mental health, officials say. He is placed in a maximum-security cell by himself and checked on every half-hour.
Sunday
4:30 a.m.: White is served breakfast.
10:15: During a routine check, officials said, “correctional officers found him sitting on the side of his bunk, alert.”
10:15-10:30: According to officials, no one has contact with White during this period.
10:35: A corrections officer bringing White lunch finds him unconscious, “sitting on the floor against his bunk.”
39 responses so far ↓
1
Lynn
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:35 am -I don’t know what to say. My first reaction was “Way to Go Coppers”. But, they already had him in jail and he would have been doing life I assume. So, I guess they should have done CPR……. after they killed him.
My whole family is LE, so dead cop stories are especially hard on me.
2
WryBread
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:39 am -Kind of hard to believe that he strangled himself, but maybe he did with a shoelace or something. There aren’t enough facts here. I’ll wait for an update.
3
Morbid
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:46 am -If the times are actually correct, that is a a short window for someone to go into the cell and strangle him. Not that it isn’t possible, but I would think it would have taken co-ordination.
4
Baffled by idiots
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:59 am -I worked in a prison for way too many years. It doesn’t seem likely.
I do commend this turd for saving the taxpayers a whole lotta money and grief. More of these guys/girls should give themselves the easy way out.
5
Baffled by idiots
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:07 am -Wrybread - I’ve seen it done in the past they use their own clothing or sheets. They tie it around their neck and just sit and lean. It just cuts off their circulation and they pass out.
Morbid - He would have been thrashing and yelling which ALWAYS incites the others in nearby cells to start yelling and throwing accusations. Any noise or peep will always draw the curiosity of others. They have nothing to do but be nosey. They wouldn’t be quiet for anyone ESPECIALLY if they could broker a deal for a favorable sentence reduction from a DA.
6
Morbid
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:08 am -In a correctly run facility, I would agree. But this is the same facility where a guard, a member of the Bloods, was busted supplying cellphones to inmates. Another guard was charged with armed robbery and assault. Two inmates were found to have keys to the facility and a prisoner was attacked by seven gang members in a holding area.
To top things off the director of corrections was fired at the beginning of June after four handguns disappeared from the jail armory.
The Washington Post has a jail employee saying any officer can enter the unit where White was held. “If you want to go and get in there, you can get in there,” said the employee, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “If you want to get to somebody, you can.”
7
funkmama
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:50 am -I can’t say that this story really bothers me, cuz it doesn’t. He got what he deserved, IMO.
8
funkmama
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:52 am -You make an excellent point.
9
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:07 pm -Did they find anything around his neck? It doesn’t sound like it. Had he done this to himself via a sheet or item of clothing, the item would have been found still around his neck or near his body, and this wouldn’t be a story. It’d just be another prison suicide.
20 minutes is plenty of time to get in and strangle someone. As for the thrashing and yelling? Not necessarily. A guard could have come in on what appeared to be a relatively routine check, asked the inmate to turn around to submit to a search, then put the inmate out with a choke. It could be done relatively silently by someone with some combat training.
I’m not exactly shedding any tears for this asshole, but I’d rather not think cops are murdering inmates at their whim.
10
Morbid
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:24 pm -Kinda agree, even if whoever did this saved taxpayers a lot of money. White has contributed nothing to society since he was placed in it, but on the flip-side, this facility seems to be catering towards criminals more than anything else. If it turns out that a person could be murdered in his cell with no detection, should worry ANYONE in that facility.
You mentioning of a choke hold seems to be exactly how he was killed. There was no visible trauma to the victim when he was taken to the hospital, and no items were around his neck. He also had two small bones broken in his neck. All of that points to a choke hold.
11
thepooh5
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:38 pm -I’m not shedding tears either, but I’ll go as far to say, the cops will murder. My police department has had numerous “suspicious deaths” and have been investigated by the SBI. I don’t thinking that “the cops killed this guy” is a stretch, at all - he was a “cop killer” after all. They do retaliate to this shit.
12
Peeperann
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:39 pm -Hmmm, hate to say it, but I have no problem if this was vigilnate justice. He was a police officer, firefighter, husband and father and probably a pretty good guy. He (the perp) deserved what he got, and this will probably make it easier on the officers wife and children. No trial to have to go thru. I know everyone will think that it’s scary that people can get killed in prison, but, hey, it wouldn’t be a problem for them if they hadn’t gotten themselves in there in the first place. Just sayin……………….
13
Morbid
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:45 pm -What if they were not supposed to be there in the first place?
14
solange822001
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:02 pm -I agree with Morbid here, I dont really feel sorry for this guy who died, but this isn’t something that can be allowed to go on as if it’s nothing. This police department’s past troubles makes it even more worrisome
15
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:24 pm -Exactly, Solange.
People see the immediate benefit to this situation, that a bad guy is dead. But there’s so much more to consider. IS this actually saving taxpayer money? How much does an investigation/cover up cost? If it is found to be murder, will the victim’s family sue? How much will that cost? As Morbid pointed out, what about innocent inmates?
Then there’s the fact that unchecked corruption WILL spread into other areas. That’s guaranteed, and only a matter of time. What if they take this shit to the streets, taking out suspected bad guys in “justifiable” shootings?
The justice system, while flawed, works the way it does for a reason. Cops were never meant to be the judges and executioners, too.
16
Hippiepoet
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:28 pm -We don’t send folks to prison to be killed by the guards/prison workers. Someone kicking his ass, he most certainly deserved…..dying, nope. He got the easy fucking way out, though. I’d rather die then spend my life behind bars. Just saying……Maybe he begged someone to kill him. Fuck, I would have.
17
thepooh5
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:32 pm -Vigilante justice IS NOT for the law. Its for citizens who are sick to death of nothing being done about crime - so the private citizens take matters into their own hands. This guy was already in custody. He was going to trial. The law had him. Hardly ever do cop killers get off with a slap on the wrist. I think this guy would have got the DP or life, if it had went to trial.
Cops are supposed to UPHOLD and ENFORCE the law, not use it to their advantage. They should be more accountable than the “average Joe”. Now, do I think this asshat deserved to die? Yes. Do I want the people paid to ensure justice to be the vigilante? Double hell no!
Cops choose to be held at a higher standard, when they become LE and take an oath. Its seems that it would be quite scary to everyone that cops would stoop to vigilante justice, especially since the guy was in custody. I mean, had he had an “accident” on the way to the jail, I could see emotions running high and a little too much deadly force being used to detain the perp.
The cops had their cooling off period during the booking and physical and mental evaluations, and all that. This was a planned retaliation on the “cop killer” - it is first degree murder. I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t want people in uniform and in authority over me that feels the laws apply to everyone but themselves. I’m sure the cops don’t just randomly go around killing people, well maybe they don’t. But, my point, I feel they were “takin’ care of business”, since this guy murdered one of their own. Thus changing the rules when convenient to them and that should scare the crap out of each and everyone of us.
18
Baffled by idiots
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:38 pm -Morbid - It sounds like this place is a sh*thole. Let me give you senarios.
Each dorm or unit on every institution have an officer’s station as well as cameras. The officer on duty in that station has a log book with the comings and goings of the unit and personnel. Max security has a minimum of 2 to 3 officers with 1 being a supervisor. There are other dirtybags incarcerated in the unit. At 10 am there are a number of crooked eyes peering out of the slots or windows of their cells. Every officer in that unit had to be in cahoots and willing to loose their job or freedom over 1 obviously guilty turd who is gonna get life. They also have to be in cahoots with everyone in the central control who monitor and record all movement.
Most of the time when inmates strangeled themselves they were sitting by their bunks or against the rails facing away from the hall
This is just my expersience
19
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:46 pm -BBI -
I’d like to note that, as I’m sure you’re aware, prisons in the U.S. are not standardized. They vary state-to-state, county-to-county. This includes everything from their layout to their staffing levels to their hiring requirements. I think there are too many factors for us to be able to say for sure what would be necessary for them to pull something like this off.
20
Morbid
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:49 pm -Especially since everyone seems to have, or can easily get access to, the keys to the cell.
21
Peeperann
Jul 1, 2008 at 3:14 pm -I understand that their may people who are not supposed to be in there, But, I doubt that they get killed by the guards. And I understand how something like this can get out of hand, but I still stand by what I said, i’d prefer the guards took it into their own hands if it was my husband.
22
sugarglider
Jul 1, 2008 at 3:23 pm -Well, one can learn quite easily that it happens all the time. Whether or not it bothers you that people who decide to kill other people, for whatever reason, are then roaming around freely amonst society once they clock out is up to you.
23
Baffled by idiots
Jul 1, 2008 at 3:32 pm -Althought not all institutions have the same level of security or procedures. I highly doubt that MD is a gangland hotbed of murdurous officers exacting their revenge like the wild wild west. I guess anything could be possible but…dayum.
24
LeeMouse
Jul 1, 2008 at 5:19 pm -I have no problem with someone who has been convicted of such a horrible crime being summarily dismissed from the earth. But…the key there is AFTER conviction. This guy had not yet been tried, had the evidence heard and ruled on by a court system and/or jury of his peers. Sure, considering that he was observed committing the murder, maybe that seems like a silly distinction. But I think it’s an important one.
25
sugarglider
Jul 1, 2008 at 5:42 pm -First of all, it only takes one. MD produced this criminal didn’t it? There are sickos everywhere, including, alas, some employd in correctional facilities.
26
sugarglider
Jul 1, 2008 at 5:44 pm -For me, the problem would be something else. There are wrongful convictions. Lots of them. Some for really heinous crimes.
27
LeeMouse
Jul 1, 2008 at 5:50 pm -Yes, but wrongful convictions where the crime occurs in broad daylight right in front of witnesses?
28
sugarglider
Jul 1, 2008 at 6:09 pm -You said you felt that way regardless of whether or not it was observed–you said you just cared about the conviction…that’s what Iwas responding to…the conviction being the point at which it’s okay to decide to self impose a death-penalty.
29
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 6:21 pm -That’s almost beside the point, LeeMouse. See, if they can pull it off in this scenario, who says they won’t try to apply it to other, less evident criminals?
Honestly, I’m not comfortable with any executions at all, so long as there is a margin of error, no matter what the circumstances. As SugarGlider stated, wrongful convictions are not AT ALL uncommon. In 2000, the governor of Illinois, Gov. Ryan (republican) placed a moratorium on all executions because they had exonerated more death row inmates than they had put to death since ‘77.
With that level of inaccuracy, I don’t feel comfortable executing ANYONE, although I’d compromise if they mandated DNA evidence in all capital cases. Even multiple witnesses can pick out the wrong person. In fact, it happens all the time. I’d bet the majority of wrongful convictions are the result of “reliable” but inaccurate witnesses.
30
sugarglider
Jul 1, 2008 at 6:28 pm -It’s interesting how many states actively resist going back to do DNA tests on some on those most heinous crimes committed in earlier times, crimes in which convictions were shaky at best and may well have resulted in wrongful incarcerations that are stll ongoing…
31
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 6:56 pm -Well, I can certainly understand their hesitance from a financial standpoint, but, ethically, it’s horrific. The fact that, in most cases, a detainee must fund the research himself makes overturned wrongful convictions far less frequent than the would be if the state paid for it. Sadly, there are too few non-profits geared toward that kind of work to handle the full burden.
I love when the pro-DP camp proudly and ignorantly exclaims, “We’ve never executed an innocent man!” Actually, we just don’t know that we’ve ever executed an innocent man. We practially never investigate post-execution, and that’s assuming the file isn’t destroyed to make room at that time.
So many innocent people in prison haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell. It’s really depressing, actually.
32
LeeMouse
Jul 1, 2008 at 7:47 pm -You’re right, sugarglider. I guess what I mean is that I have no problem with it in cases where there’s been a conviction and there’s no doubt of the guilt. If there’s a reasonable doubt that there really is a bushy-haired/one-armed stranger out there, that’s a different story.
I also agree that eyewitnesses can often be faulty (although I don’t think that’s the case here). I do get frustrated when people say, “But he was convicted on circumstantial evidence!” when (at least, as I understand the term), anything that’s not direct eye-witness is circumstantial…and often far more reliable than eyewitnesses in the first place.
I don’t think we should vigilante mobs roaming the streets, breaking into jails and yelling, “String ‘em up!” But I also have no problem with, say, Jeffrey Dahmer being beaten to death in prison.
33
Sir Geoff
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:20 pm -MD didn’t “produce” this criminal no more than those teens who beat that homeless man to death were “victims of society.” Criminals choose to do these acts. I grew up in an urban area. Some people I graduated with are incarcerated or died in drug deals/robberies, etc……and some are teachers, doctors, and policemen. We create are own future and can overcome bad situations if we desire.
34
Castille
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:19 am -This is close to home for me and it horrifies me. My heart goes out to the family and friends of officer Findley. Murdering someone is never okay. But calculated, cold blooded murder by people with badges is just terrifying. My husband was shocked, given the history of this department, when I told him the footage I’d seen of the arrests of the copkillers showed officers that were impressively calm and professional. Sadly, my husband’s impression of county LE ethics was more accurate. There wasn’t even an attempt at making White’s death look accidental, which speaks to me of the attitude that the murderer/s feel entirely and safely above the law in their actions. There is a very limited pool of people who could’ve done this, and they ought to suspend all of them, and need to charge someone quickly. Meanwhile, everytime I encounter someone in PG Co. corrections, I’m going to be wondering if I’m staring into the face of this brutal killer, or those complicit in it, wielding the powers of law enforcement. The death of Officer Findley is a horrible tragedy for the community, however, the death of Ronnie White is an outrage.
35
sugarglider
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:32 am -Well, of course. My comment about MD “producing” a criminal was ironic. I hope that was clear within the context of the entire comment and the comment it responded to, which seemed to suggest that MD wouldn’t have the problems other places have, such as criminals and the occasional criminally-minded correctional officer (ever been to Baltimore?). If not, let me say unequivocally, no, MD did not produce a criminal. If I wasn’t taken as ironical, then I made a bad choice of words.
Nevertheless, your logic becomes flawed, Sir Geoff, when you attempt to create a parallel. A criminal may well have both chosen to do a crime (and, yes, they along are responsible for that) and also be in some form or other a “victim of society.” The two aren’t mutually exclucsive.
I wonder moreoverwhat you think you mean *specifically* by using that phrase (”victim of society”) in quote marks. It’s a very vague phrase. What would specifics be? Being shuttled between lousy foster homes as a child? Being in a bad home environment growing up because some social worker failed to do his or her job? I’m not sure what you’re actually referring to w/ this vague phrase, but those two examples I state might be considered to fall under that rubric, and, yes, being in some environments and situations mightpredispose some people (not all, we do make our choices) to both more desperate, more conditioned to seeing violence as a solution to problems, less inculcated with ideas about right and wrong, and even less schooled with the important lesson that each person alone is responsible for his or her actions.
36
sugarglider
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:51 am -Hi Leemouse, I see what you’re saying, but I guess we just disagree. I do have a problem with it. I don’t think the LAW should do things that are against THE LAW, so I don’t think police/correctional officers should take it into their hands to commit homocide nor to incite others to do so. Moreover, I don’t want people then roaming the streets (those same police and correctional officers) who believe they have the right to off people whenever they damn well feel like it. People like that should not be wearing badges. They should be in mental institutions to get over their god-complexes and learn how to obey the laws they have sworn to uphold–or else, like other murderers, they should be in jail just like everyone else who thinks they have a right to off people whenever they damn well feel it or someone seems to “deserve” it.
It’s easy to have an abstract vision of people who work in jail systems. See Castille’s comment. Correctional officers are real people–they are husbands and wives and parents. Imagine your husband coming home one day from his job at jail: “Hi, honey, I killed this guy today on purpose.” Would you high-5 him? Would you say, “great, well, it’s time to go over to the Jones’s for dinner, so please put Timmy in his carseat”? I doubt you would. And what about the mode of killing? Would you ask about that? Would you be cool with it if your husband just shot the guy in the head? What if he first beat the guy with his fists and joined his other cop buddies in anally raping him with a broken broomstick (I’m referring to real case in NYC)? Would one be okay but not the other–shooting yes but broomstick no? Wouldn’t you think either way that your husband had become a monstrous and scary person? I mean, I would.
My point is, it’s easy to just say in the abstract, “great, another A-hole got put out of society’s misery today,” and it’s moreover easy to think in the abstract about the word “kill,” but then there’s the reality of what such a situation entails–and this is regardless of a criminal’s guilt or his/her guilty conviction.
37
sugarglider
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:52 am -Castille, good post.
38
Athena
Jul 3, 2008 at 2:48 pm -Brilliant illustration, SugarGlider. It’s looking more and more like what we think it is. What a disappointment.
I think Castille’s post outlines yet another consequence of this type of behavior: Trust. The distrust of law enforcement is absolutely crippling in some communities and, when officers actively contribute to that distrust, it undermines the entire system. Good officers pay for the crimes of their corrupt brothers. Even upstanding citizens who are well within the lines of the law can come to feel the need to protect themselves from law enforcement. Imagine that - feeling the need to protect yourself from an organization thats motto is to “Protect and Serve”. It’s disturbing irony.
Ultimately, these officers’ actions negatively impact far more than they benefit.
39
sugarglider
Jul 3, 2008 at 2:57 pm -Aw shucks, thanks
It’s disappointing indeed, just brought everything from bad to worse.
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