3 Ex-guards Indicted In Inmate Death At Bridgewater State Hospital
A grand jury has indicted three former prison guards on involuntary manslaughter and civil rights charges in connection with the 2009 death of a 23-year-old mentally ill inmate at Bridgewater State Hospital.
The Boston Globe reports that former guards Derek Howard, John Raposo and George Billadeau were indicted Thursday by a Suffolk County grand jury in the case of Joshua Messier.
The indictments came eight months after a special prosecutor was named to investigate Messier's death, which occurred while guards forcefully strapped him to a bed. The incident was recorded on video.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz had declined to seek charges, citing a lack of evidence despite Messier's death being ruled a homicide by the medical examiner.
The three guards were fired in September.