Three former Santa Clara County Jail guards plead to manslaughter for 2015 killing.
Kelsi Thorud reports on the three Santa Clara County Jail guards who beat an inmate to death in 2015.
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office Press Release
Jail guards guilty of 2015 fatal attack of mentally ill inmate
August 13, 2024
For release on August 13, 2024
CONTACT:
Matt Braker
Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Homicide Unit
(408) 792-2531
[email protected]
Jail guards guilty of 2015 fatal attack of mentally ill inmate
Three former Santa Clara County correctional deputies pleaded guilty today to beating to death Michael Tyree, a mentally ill jail inmate.
All three defendants – Matthew Farris, 36, Jereh Lubrin, 37, and Rafael Rodriguez, 40 – admitted in court that they personally assaulted or aided and abetted the assault of Michael Tyree in 2015, causing his death.
Now convicted of voluntary manslaughter, each guard will be sentenced to the maximum term under law, 11 years in state prison.
“Today, there was some justice for the voiceless and the vulnerable,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Michael Tyree’s death was a shocking abuse of power but also an impetus that led to long-needed reforms in how we handle the mentally ill in custody. I pray that his name will continue to inspire us to advocate for a criminal justice system that never treats human dignity as a luxury.”
Michael Tyree was a 31-year-old mentally ill inmate housed in the Santa Clara County main jail for outstanding warrants and misdemeanor offenses. He was being held in custody until bedspace became available at an appropriate mental health facility.
On August 26, 2015, the on-duty guards entered Tyree’s small cell armed with batons. One or more of the trio beat Tyree to death. Fellow inmates heard screams of pain, crying, and pleas for mercy. Within an hour, Tyree lay dead in his cell in a pool of vomit and feces. He had lost up to half of his blood through massive internal bleeding. Tyree’s liver was severely lacerated, and his spleen was nearly torn in half.
Further investigation revealed that the defendants had a pattern of abuse and violence toward inmates as part of a scheme to instill fear and maintain control in the jail. A former acquaintance of Lubrin testified that the guard had told him, “Beating people up is part of my job at the jail.”
In 2017, a jury convicted all three defendants of second-degree murder. The defendants challenged their murder convictions on appeal based on new legislation that was retroactive and significantly changed the requirements to convict a person of murder when the identity of the actual killer could not be proven. Based on this new law, an appellate court reversed the conviction. The Office was planning to retry the case at the time of today’s negotiated disposition.
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