An eighth guard is indicted in beating of inmate in jail

By Francie Latour, Globe Staff, 7/24/2001

wo months after seven guards from the Suffolk County sheriff's department were indicted in federal court on charges of beating inmates awaiting trial, an eighth guard faces a similar charge in connection with the same beatings.

Patrick J. Cook, a 33-year-old correction officer from South Boston who has worked at the Nashua Street Jail for about 10 years, faces a federal civil rights charge for allegedly beating William Doocey in a 1999 incident that also involved another guard and a lieutenant.

Both the other guards, Officer Melvin J. Massucco and Lieutenant Eric J. Donnelly, have pleaded not guilty to civil rights violations in connection with the incident.

The charge filed against Cook last week in US District Court was part of a criminal information, an indication that, unlike Donnelly, Massucco, and the five other guards indicted in May, Cook will probably plead guilty to the charges.

Elliot M. Weinstein, a lawyer representing Cook, said yesterday that he would not comment on the charge or the possibility that Cook might testify against his colleagues. Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for Acting US Attorney James B. Farmer, also would not talk about Cook's case.

Richard M. Lombardi, spokesman for Sheriff Richard J. Rouse, said the sheriff was referring all questions about Cook to the US attorney's office.

Lombardi said Cook was still on duty, despite the charge he faces, but added that he did not know what if any disciplinary action the department might take against Cook.

Last week, following a Globe series in May that reported guard misconduct and chronic mismanagement during Rouse's tenure, Acting Governor Jane M. Swift appointed former US Attorney General Donald K. Stern to head an independent review of Rouse's department.

In an incident that prosecutors described in the May indictments, Doocey was involved in an altercation with two inmates on April 15, 1999.

When guards from the sheriff's emergency response team responded to the problem, prosecutors say that Donnelly told the other guards present that Doocey should get a ''tickle,'' or a beating.

Doocey was instructed to kneel, put his hands on his head, and his head on the bed, according to the indictment. On Donnelly's orders, an unnamed team member allegedly punched Doocey in the back, ribs, legs, and shoulders.

Later, according to the indictment, Donnelly and Massucco entered Doocey's cell and continued beating him as Donnelly shouted, ''This is my jail.''

This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 7/24/2001.
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