Our Prison System vs. the Terrorists

Waterboarding, snarling dogs, sleep deprivation: international outrage. D.C. native Keith Barnes should have had it so good. His federal prison experience involved more than physical exhaustion, fear and humiliation. His ended in death.

I wrote about Barnes four years ago after his murder in a Federal Bureau of Prisons penitentiary in Beaumont, Tex. ["A Witness Pays the Price in Prison," May 21, 2005; "Death Sentence, D.C. Style," May 28, 2005.]

A return visit seems in order. President Obama wants to place some Guantanamo detainees in federal penitentiaries. Also, FBI Director Robert Mueller has warned that even if they are sent to maximum-security federal prisons, Gitmo inmates may radicalize other prisoners and threaten national security.

A fanciful FBI worry? There's precedent for dangerous inmates getting their way in prison. Consider what happened to Keith Barnes.

Despite ample warning, the Bureau of Prisons failed to prevent D.C. inmates from tracking down and murdering Barnes inside the U.S. prison system. If the feds can't control D.C. inmates, can they do any better with suspected international terrorists?

Barnes, to be clear, deserved to be in prison. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in the District. He also agreed to testify before a grand jury about his involvement and that of his three co-defendants, Jimmy Pearsall, Theo Mitchell and James "Rat" Carpenter.

The three co-defendants learned about Barnes's cooperation. According to court papers, Carpenter wrote several letters to Barnes telling him he would be killed if he continued to cooperate. Barnes, however, testified at Pearsall's trial and at the joint trial of Mitchell and Carpenter.

On the strength of Barnes's testimony, the three were indicted on charges including first-degree murder and kidnapping while armed.

Prosecutors said Barnes's testimony led to the swift guilty verdicts on each count against Pearsall, who was sentenced to 54 years to life. They also said that without Barnes's testimony, Carpenter might not have been convicted and sentenced to 50 years to life. Mitchell was acquitted.

Peter Zeidenberg, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the four men, told me that when Barnes had second thoughts leading up to the trial, he was told, "Trust us; we will take care of you." Barnes was also assured that he would get a break in sentencing because of his cooperation. Ha!

When Barnes went before D.C. Superior Court Judge Susan Winfield for sentencing on Sept. 15, 1998, Zeidenberg urged a lenient sentence in appreciation for Barnes's cooperation. Zeidenberg said he expected that Barnes would receive no more than five years.

He was stunned, however, when Winfield sentenced Barnes to 15 years to life on the murder count. Zeidenberg said he twice asked Winfield to reduce Barnes's sentence; his request was twice denied.