Edition: U.S. / Global

Jail Guard Says He Has No Memory Of Beating

Published: February 25, 1999

A Nassau County jail guard accused of beating a retarded inmate with a frying pan or a pot in 1993 testified yesterday in the former prisoner's civil lawsuit that he had no memory of either the man or the night of the attack.

But the prosecutor who investigated the case at the time testified that the inmate's identification of the guard, Salvatore Gemelli, as the man who assaulted him, was ''as strong an ID as you get in a criminal case.''

The former inmate, Thomas F. Donovan Jr., 39, is suing Mr. Gemelli, Nassau County and its jail in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on civil rights charges, and is seeking $100 million in damages.

The trial is proceeding amid a widening Federal investigation into possible civil rights violations at the Nassau jail, where, many current and former inmates say, beatings are an everyday occurrence. The inquiry began after the Jan. 13 death of Thomas Pizzuto, 38, whose family says he was beaten by guards and then left untreated for days. His death, which was ruled a homicide, is being investigated by the United States Attorney's office in Brooklyn.

Mr. Gemelli, a vice president of the correction officers' union, remained calm through several hours of questioning yesterday, even when peppered with accusations by Mr. Donovan's lawyer, Stephen Civardi. After Mr. Civardi established from jail records that Mr. Gemelli, who handled Mr. Donovan's admission into the jail, had taken an unusually long time to do so, Mr. Gemelli said that the length of time necessary depends on a number of factors. ''It also depends on whether you're busy beating somebody between bookings, doesn't it?'' Mr. Civardi asked. Before Mr. Gemelli could respond, Judge Allyne R. Ross ruled that he did not have to answer the question.

Mr. Gemelli testified that he interviewed arriving inmates in his own way, deviating from approved scripts used to screen possible suicides, for example. When he was supposed to ask if an inmate was in treatment with a psychologist or psychiatrist, he said, ''I'd ask, 'Do you think you're nuts?' ''

Later, Mr. Civardi closed his interrogation by asking Mr. Gemelli: ''Is there anything Mr. Donovan could have done to justify the beating he received at the Nassau County jail?''

''No,'' Mr. Gemelli responded. ''Mr. Donovan should never have gotten beaten.''

The other key witness yesterday was Paul R. Delle, a former prosecutor in the Nassau County District Attorney's office who initially handled the investigation of Mr. Donovan's allegation against Mr. Gemelli. He told jurors that Mr. Donovan's ''horrific'' injuries ''appeared to be inflicted with tremendous force.'' He added: ''I'd never seen injuries like this in my history as a prosecutor.''

Mr. Delle said that Mr. Donovan had identified Mr. Gemelli both from photographs and later, after having seen him on a bus full of inmates and correction officers. Cross-examined by Mr. Gemelli's lawyer, Chris P. Termini, Mr. Delle conceded that the District Attorney's office had declined to prosecute Mr. Gemelli. ''So far,'' Mr. Delle added.

In a setback for the Mr. Donovan, Mr. Delle, who is now in private practice, said that Mr. Donovan had originally been arrested on sex-crime charges. Jurors up to that time had not been told why he was in jail. Mr. Donovan eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.

The anticipated testimony by Mr. Gemelli, 45, who has been accused of assault by a number of other inmates, was nearly upstaged by an exchange earlier in the day that took place in the jury's absence.

Peter Ellison, a former correction officer who is now a Nassau police officer, was sworn in as a witness and asked by Mr. Civardi, Mr. Donovan's lawyer, whether he had ever told anyone he would lie for Mr. Gemelli, or if he had ever worked for a private investigator. Mr. Ellison said no to both questions.

But when asked, ''Who is Rod Newman?'' Mr. Ellison admitted that he had moonlighted in the past for Mr. Newman, who Mr. Civardi later said was an investigator for his own law firm. Mr. Civardi later told Judge Ross that Mr. Newman had told him that Mr. Ellison had vowed to ''lie for Gemelli,'' and that Mr. Ellison was afraid of Mr. Gemelli because of his power as a union leader.

After Mr. Ellison was excused, Mr. Civardi phoned Mr. Newman and summoned him to court to testify. Moments later, Mr. Civardi returned and announced that Mr. Ellison had just called Mr. Newman from a telephone booth outside the courtroom.

Mr. Civardi said Mr. Newman seemed ''very rattled and shaken up'' by Mr. Ellison's call. A few minutes later, the judge and lawyers were told that Mr. Ellison again called Mr. Newman. Mr. Ellison was warned by the judge not to contact Mr. Newman again.