commentary by Patrick H. Moore
A recent beating/death of an inmate at the at Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg, Ohio provides an excellent snapshot of life in custody and the issues a convict faces once the iron door clangs shut. Let’s set the scene:
1) You have approximately 180 inmates at any time so this is a fairly small jail. A neat, clean brick building viewed from the outside.
2) You are a young man named Zachary Butler doing some time on a drunk driving charge. Although you appear to be a pretty regular guy and may not be in much danger of being raped, nevertheless, you are “the new kid on the block” and so you have to prove yourself to the more experienced convicts.
David Piersol
3) There is an inmate there named David Piersol whom the other convicts considered a child molester who was facing charges for “raping a young girl”.
4) Because rank-and-file jailbirds don’t like child molesters, they were harassing Piersol, although he appears to have suffered no serious damage until Zach Butler was ordered by the other cons to assault him.
5) It appears that Zach Butler had no desire to assault Piersol. However according to Butler, “other inmates…threatened to stab Butler with sharpened pencils if he didn’t carry out the assault.”
So it’s clear that Butler was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His defense attorney Chris Bucci “argued for a halfway house-type sentence, saying Butler was extremely drunk at the time, was egged on and feared for his life.”
Thus, it appears that Butler had a serious drinking problem, although some inmates who drink the prison home brew may be doing so merely to pass the time or to be one of the boys. It’s entirely possible that the group of convicts who were egging Butler on were also intoxicated.
At his hearing in front of Judge Nick Selvaggio, Butler seemed to accept responsibility for the fact his assault on Piersol (he hit him in the head several times with his knee) led to the man’s death. He did, however, try to deflect at least some of the blame onto the other convicts.
He also told the judge that he was told he had to “earn his tray,” referring to jail food trays, by attacking Piersol. In other words, you either take this pervert “out” or you don’t eat.
Andrew Welsh-Huggins, AP Legal Affairs correspondent writes:
Butler also said other inmates physically attacked Piersol later in a jail bathroom, an allegation rejected by Champaign County Judge Nick Selvaggio for lack of evidence.
“You don’t know with any certainty that other inmates were the ones that caused the blows to his head, do you?” the judge asked Butler.
“No, Sir,” Butler said.
Prosecutor Kevin Talebi also reiterated that there was no evidence that the other convicts did anything more than harass Piersol, but that the evidence showed that Butler struck Piersol “several times” in the head with his knee. Ouch!
“What’s clear is this defendant is the one who caused the death,” Talebi said.
A report by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office states that Piersol was beaten on April 5 at the jail in Mechanicsburg and that he died a few days later.
Although Butler’s defense attorney argued for a halfway-house sentence, the judge rejected the request and sentenced him to five years in prison. The judge did agree, however, that Butler acted under “strong provocation” because of the threats against him.
Technically, the charges against Butler included one count of reckless homicide and one count of tampering with evidence, based on the accusation that Butler traded blood-stained pants with another inmate.
* * * * *
To his credit, “Butler took responsibility for the assault on Piersol, saying he’d learned that “life is fragile,” and he apologized to Piersol’s family.
“I made bad decisions,” he said. “I knew what I was doing.”
Judge Selvaggio added that “Butler had shown remorse and was one of the few offenders he’d seen directly address a victim’s family when apologizing.”
The judge pointed out, however, that “he couldn’t overlook the seriousness of Butler’s assault on Piersol and the fact Butler didn’t seek help for the victim afterward.”
* * * * *
So now Butler is going to the Big House where he will face a whole new set of problems.
What a mean old scene! Jail and prison, that is. Stay out if you possibly can. This is the best advice you’ll ever receive.