Ionia judge dismisses felony charges against former officers charged in prison beating
A judge has dismissed felony charges against four former corrections officers at an Ionia prison in connection with the 2024 beating of an inmate who was left with a broken back and other injuries.
Misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault remain pending against the defendants, who worked at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, a state prison operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Ionia District Judge Raymond Voet dismissed felony charges of misconduct in office against Ray Thomas Rubley, 33; Andrew Ray Carr, 39; Al-Ani Mustafa, 44, and Jordan Thomas Csernyik, 23, following a daylong preliminary hearing held May 23, according to both the county prosecutor and a defense attorney.
Voet rejected the prosecution's request to send the charges to Ionia County Circuit Court and said from the bench that the prosecution failed to show the officers had corrupt intent when they beat inmate John Paul Callaghan, 27, on July 7, 2024, according to Jeffrey Foldie, a Bay City attorney representing Carr and Csernyik.
The officers reacted immediately after Callaghan assaulted Csernyik by striking him with a tray of food the prosecution and defense agreed. Court records show Callaghan was sentenced to another 18 months to five years in prison in December, on top of the time he was already serving, after pleading guilty to assaulting Csernyik that same day.
Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler told the Free Press in March that the beating left Callaghan with a broken back, a broken hand, and broken facial bones.
"Uncontroverted testimony from the MDOC expert supported that each defendant violated MDOC policy and the use of force policy in various ways and degrees when handling the inmate," Butler said in a May 26 email to the Free Press.
Foldie said in March that the beating, which included punches, knee strikes, and deployment of a Taser, lasted less than 30 seconds. Callaghan was preventing handcuffs from being applied and the officers responded according to their training, he said.
'Today was a good day for the defense, the law enforcement community, and the community of Ionia," Foldie said at the conclusion of the hearing in 64A District Court in Ionia.
Prosecution witnesses included Callaghan, three MDOC employees, and a Michigan State Police sergeant, Butler said. The prosecution also showed a video of the incident, he said.
More: 4 Michigan corrections officers charged in severe 2024 beating of inmate
The judge instructed Butler to set a date for a pretrial conference on the remaining misdemeanor charges, or dismiss them, Foldie said. He said he hoped the charges would be dismissed because the question of criminal intent is relevant to both charges.
Butler did not immediately respond when asked whether he was considering an appeal of the dismissals and whether he planned to proceed to trial on the misdemeanor charges.
All four officers, who had been free on bond and suspended from their jobs without pay, were fired by the department this month, following a disciplinary conference, Foldie said.
The Michigan Corrections Organization union is filing grievances on behalf of the officers on May 27 and taking the issue to arbitration in an effort to have the officers reinstated, he said.
More: Detroit man says he needed mental health treatment as an inmate, but was punished instead
Butler earlier confirmed that according to a report from the MSP, which investigated the incident, Callaghan told investigators that on the day of the assaults, Callaghan's cellmate said he planned to rape Callaghan. The inmate told investigators the motivation to assault an officer was to get sent to segregation and be safe from the cellmate, Butler said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ionia judge dismisses felonies against officers in prison beating
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