Gov. Hochul: Inmate's death at upstate prison ruled a homicide

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called for "the full force of the justice system" to be wielded in the case of a prisoner who died after a beating by correction officers that she says is being treated as a homicide.

Hochul said the Dec. 9 beating caught on video of Robert Brooks, 43, in the Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica was declared a homicide by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office.

No one has been arrested so far.

"I believe the legal process must quickly move forward with criminal charges being filed and arrests being made," Hochul said in a written statement. "Those responsible for Mr. Brooks’ death must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, and I recognize the need to build an airtight prosecution to ensure those individuals are brought to justice."

Thirteen correction officers and a nurse were suspended without pay after the assault of Brooks.

Melanie Drotar, spokeswoman for the county medical examiner, said autopsy reports are considered confidential medical records when cases are under active investigation. She referred comment to the district attorney’s office, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Brooks family’s attorney, Elizabeth Mazur, who is based in Chicago, also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. She had told Syracuse.com that the autopsy confirmed "Robert Brooks’ violent death was a homicide."

Brooks, a Black man, was pronounced dead the morning after the assault in which he was handcuffed, then punched in the face and groin, yanked up by his neck and dropped on a table, according to the video. A medical examination’s preliminary findings listed "concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another," according to The Associated Press.

The prison employees hadn’t turned on their body cameras, but some of the assault was caught, without sound, by a body camera in a "passive" mode.

Brooks was sentenced in 2017 to 12 years in prison for first-degree assault. He had been transferred to Marcy from a nearby prison hours before the beating.

Hochul has since appointed a new superintendent at Marcy and proposes statewide reforms to prison, including requiring body cameras to be activated in any interaction between workers and inmates.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.