Jury convicts three in Corcoran Prison case

Jurors last week convicted three California State Prison Corcoran inmates of intimidating correctional officers during a brawl with facility staff.

Juan Jaimes, Julio Perez and Ramon Reyes were all found guilty of obstructing an officer and two counts of trying to prevent correctional officers from performing their duties.

The verdict stems from an incident on Dec. 23, 2009. Officer Michael Ramirez and his partner went to the cell of Enrique Peraza, another inmate, intending to search it.

Instead, Peraza attacked Ramirez, hauling him back into the cell, while the three defendants charged his partner.

Officer Phillip Garcia, seeing the commotion from his control booth, fired three sponge rounds at the defendants, ordering them to hit the ground. They went down for a moment, then stood up and marched towards Ramirez’s partner.

Peraza punched and choked Ramirez until he pinned the inmate against a bunk. That’s when Peraza pulled a bundle from his waistband, dunked it in the toilet and flushed it away.

He gave up immediately after, admitting that he only wanted to distract the officers long enough to ditch his stash of heroin, according to court testimony.

Ramirez suffered a large bump above his left eyebrow and scratches to his arms and face. His partner, Anthony Rocha, sustained a black eye. Both men testified that they feared for their lives during the confrontation……Jury convicts three in Corcoran Prison case