Witness Says Guards Ordered Hit
Slain Officer Allegedly Targeted for Hindering Contraband Ring

By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Maryland attorney general's office sought yesterday to block the release of records involving state prison guards who a witness said had a fellow guard killed because he interfered with the distribution of contraband at a maximum-security prison in Jessup.

The action came in response to a motion filed in Anne Arundel Circuit Court by attorneys for Lamarr C. Harris, who with another inmate is charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 stabbing death of Correctional Officer David W. McGuinn.

According to the defense motion, filed Feb. 21, the unidentified witness told state police investigators that two guards " 'ordered' the hit" because McGuinn had "interfered with the conspiracy between officers and inmates to distribute contraband into the House of Correction." The motion seeks misconduct reports and other records involving four guards who the witness said were "corrupt" and part of the contraband conspiracy.

The allegation represents a startling theory in the death of McGuinn, who was known in the prison as "Homeland Security" or simply "Homeland" because of his adherence to rules, a trait that former associates have said caused friction with inmates and some officers.

The defense said it was seeking to determine whether the state was aware of the alleged contraband operation at Jessup, a 129-year-old prison that was shut down last year after decades of riots, fights, escapes and attacks on correctional officers. The motion alleges that corruption "fueled the violence within the prison both between inmates and inmate on officer violence."

Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, declined to comment on the allegations.

"We don't comment on active investigations and open court cases," he said. "The most important thing for the department is justice for the McGuinn family."

The defense said Harris's actions would be mitigated "if the State implicitly or explicitly permitted" such a conspiracy.

Authorities allege that Harris and Lee E. Stephens escaped from their cells and repeatedly stabbed McGuinn, 42, who was the first Maryland corrections officer to be killed inside a prison since 1984. They could receive the death penalty.

After the killing, authorities said that McGuinn might have been targeted and that prior threats had resulted in his temporary transfer to a part of facility where he had limited contact with inmates.

The defense motion did not say whether the witness interviewed by the state police was an inmate or a correctional officer. A call to the lead public defender in the case was not returned yesterday.

Elena Russo, a state police spokeswoman, said, "We are continuing to follow the direction of the Anne Arundel County state's attorney's office."

Kristin Fleckenstein, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said she could not comment on the case except to say that the defense motion was "based on supplemental information that was given to the defense by the prosecution."

Fleckenstein said the attorney general's office was responding to the motion because it involved correctional records. A hearing on the defense motion has been scheduled for Tuesday, she said.

The state filed a motion for a protective order shielding the release of documents requested by the defense, said Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

"I can't say anything more than that," she said.

The defense motion asked for "all reports, directives, memorandum, notes, tapes, files, e-mails, investigations, summaries, any written documentation from private files, or any other written materials" from various law enforcement agencies. The defense said it was looking for evidence of "any illegal behavior or behavior that violated the code of conduct for a correctional officer" and whether "any of the aforementioned officers brought any form of contraband into any institution of the DOC."

The motion also seeks information related to any others "alleged to have smuggled in contraband into the Maryland House of Correction or participated in any conspiracy to distribute contraband into the House of Correction for the past five years."