I was the Director of the Juvenile Detention Facility in 1993 and 1994. I
worked there for about 10 years. (BMHR 621).
My job consisted of my keeping up with Juvenile law, training staff,
handling problems that other staff could not handle, and substituting for other staff
when people got sick.
I would usually work from 8 to 5, but sometimes would need to respond to
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calls from the facility. I was on call 24/7.
I have drawn a map of the boys’ side of the facility a couple of days ago.
There was a side for the boys and a side for the girls. The boys were housed in 10
cells right opposite my office. There was a plexiglass, glassed-in, pod from which
staff members could monitor what was going on in the block. (BMHR 622-623).
(Exhibit 32 entered at BMHR 626). At the end of the block there was an area
where there were tables. The juveniles there were under constant surveillance in
part because there were cameras. Staff members rotated on a 12-hour shift basis
We maintained a daily unit log that showed where the inmates were housed.
(BMHR 626). Jason Baldwin was housed right opposite the pod most of the time
he was there. He never had a cell mate. I was aware of Jason Baldwin’s presence
in the facility. He was the subject of a notorious case. We monitored him closely.
Staff members had been given a directive to keep a keen eye out. (BMHR 625-
629). [Volume 3 ends at BMHR 627; Volume 4 begins at BMHR 628]
Jason was a good kid. He never complained. He wasn’t demanding. He was
kind of reserved with the others. I never heard about Jason talking to the other kids
about his case. (BMHR 630).
There was a great deal of documentation kept concerning the movements
and whereabouts of the juveniles in the facility. There were psychological and
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medical logs, as well as incident logs. Each juvenile also had a separate file. There
were also visitor logs. Any acts of violence or fights would be documented.
(BMHR 633). There were a number of ‘CYA’ type records. I would review the
records every morning to see what happened the night before.
I recall that we had an inmate named Michael Carson. He had been in and
out of the institution. When kids were newly admitted they would be put in lock
down in a special cell for three days. They had no contact with other juveniles.
(BMHR 635). According to the records, Carson was in the Unit from September 1
through September 7, 1993–a total of six to seven days. (BMHR 634-635). The
records of the unit show where Carson was housed in relation to Baldwin, and
what his movements and activities were. (BMHR 636-637, referencing Exhibits
32-34).
I did not testify in the trial of the case. I was outside of court when Michael
Carson testified. I have no independent recollection of whether Carson, Baldwin, a
kid named Biddle and another juvenile named Jason played cards together. The
juveniles played cards quite often, which would have been reflected in the records.
Carson apparently told a State Trooper during an interview that Baldwin had
been threatened by black inmates. If that had happened, there would have been a
record of it. I have no recollection of black inmates ever threatening Baldwin.
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(BMHR 639-640).
The only contact that I recall having with Baldwin’s attorneys Paul Ford and
Robin Wadley was in connection with an HBO filming that took place in the
Juvenile Facility. Some people had lost their jobs over it.
Ford called me at home one Friday night, but that was after the trial. (BMHR
641). Baldwin’s lawyers did not contact me about Michael Carson. (BMHR 641-
642). Ford’s contact after the trial was to ask me what kind of a kid Baldwin had
been while he was incarcerated there. But the contact was not about Carson or
allegations made by Carson. Nor was I asked if I had any records or if my staff
had any records that could be useful to address the Michael Carson allegations. To
my knowledge, the Baldwin defense team never tried to identify any of the kids
who were involved in the alleged card game with Carson. Nor did any of the black
inmates who were in the facility get interviewed by the Baldwin defense lawyers.
(BMHR 643-644).
There was a log kept for professional visitors, and that there was no
indication that Paul Ford ever came to the jail trying to interview anyone in
connection with Carson.
I was asked to show up to testify about Baldwin as a person. I never did
testify, however, because I was told to get out of the county and stay away until
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they had sentenced the boys ((BMHR 646:15-16).
Looking at records of September 4 and 5, 1993, I can identify Anne Tate and
Patty Bircham as staff members at the Detention Center. Exhibit 33 (BMHR 648).
Xavier Reedus, Leonard Haskins, and Daniel Biddle were all inmates who were
there at that time.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY BRENT DAVIS
Now that you show me this map of the facility again, there was a hospital
cell that should have been drawn in between cells 8 and 9. The cell rosters show
that most of the juveniles were double celled, one on the top bunk and the other on
the lower. So, the record you’re showing me shows Carson being celled with Jason
Duncan. (BMHR 652).
I was eventually fired by the Sheriff for taking a county car out of the
county.
There was an occasion on which one juvenile had been discovered to have
committed suicide, but the juvenile’s death had not been ascertained before several
hours had passed. (BMHR 654-655). So there were times when things happened
that the staff did not monitor.
Baldwin, to my knowledge, did not have problems with black inmates. They
liked him. (BMHR 657-658).
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I also recall that Carson had been in the Jonesboro alternative school where
there were administrators and instructors who knew his reputation and his
behavior.
It was the Sheriff who asked me to leave the county after Paul Ford had
asked me to be available to testify at the sentencing hearing. (BMHR 663).
I cannot recall ever seeing Michael Carson with Jason Baldwin. Baldwin
stayed to himself. He was a quiet kid who avoided trouble. He did interact with
some of the African-American inmates.
If Carson and Baldwin had talked during the night, it would have been
written down by the staff. (BMHR 665-666). Carson never told me that Baldwin
had said anything damaging about his case. (BMHR 669).
My viewpoint is that Michael Carson was a smart-ass and a troublemaker.
(BMHR 671-672).
