SOMERSET, Pa. — David Hurst
The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
SOMERSET, Pa. — Testimony in a former SCI-Somerset inmate’s criminal homicide trial opened Tuesday with jurors getting a graphic look at the deadly 2018 attack at the center of the case.
The proceedings included 17 minutes of surveillance footage that showed defendant Paul Jawon Kendrick, 29, inflict a series of blows to Sgt. Mark Baserman’s head, at one point breaking away from another officer’s grasp to strike Baserman again.
The opening day of Kendrick’s trial in Somerset County court also included testimony from William McDowell Jr., the corrections officer who tried to subdue Kendrick – and, separately, sudden changes to the jury after three jurors were excused from the panel.
On Feb. 15, 2018, Kendrick launched into a violent attack on Baserman, a 60-year-old SCI-Somerset corrections sergeant, who died 11 days later, attorneys on both sides of the case told jurors Tuesday. That much was undisputed.
But opening statements by the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office and Kendrick’s defense counsel painted two different pictures about whether Kendrick intended to kill Baserman.
McDowell testified that the attack occurred just hours after Baserman took a towel from Kendrick’s cell. And First Assistant District Attorney Thomas Leiden told jurors they will discover in the upcoming days that Kendrick planned the assault after Baserman refused to return it.
“Paul Kendrick was disciplined for hanging a towel improperly in a cell ... and he was acting differently that day,” Leiden said, telling jurors Kendrick was agitated and “fixated” on Baserman.
Baserman, who was overseeing a prison block of more than 100 men, had a sometimes tough job – but he didn’t go to work that day to be killed, Leiden added. As an inmate serving a life sentence, “all (Kendrick) had to do that day was follow the rules,” he said.
Defense attorney Kenneth Sottile said prison life isn’t always that simple.
The video – and some of the testimony jurors will hear this week – will illustrate the unique realities of prison culture, where “little things like a towel for a shower can be something very important to an inmate,” Sottile said.
But despite prosecutors’ allegations, it won’t show that Kendrick was trying to kill Baserman that day, Sottile said in his opening statement.
“Sometimes people just lose it – sometimes they lash out and they do things they don’t mean to do,” Sottile added.
Guard: Kendrick knew Baserman
Kendrick is charged with criminal homicide, including first-degree murder – and, if convicted of first-degree murder, would face a second proceeding that would determine if he should receive the death penalty for Baserman’s death.
He’s also facing a list of assault charges, including assault by a life prisoner, related to the alleged attacks on Baserman and McDowell.
McDowell said Baserman and Kendrick knew each other. Baserman helped the inmate get a job cleaning showers, which paid money and enabled Kendrick to spend more time outside his cell, he said.
But both men were “aggravated” that day due to the towel incident, McDowell said.
“He just wasn’t his normal happy-go-lucky self,” McDowell said of Baserman.
State corrections guidelines prohibit inmates from blocking view ports into cells so corrections officers can ensure that inmates are following rules and are safe.
“(Baserman) was a pretty strict guy, but he was fair to everybody. He treated everybody the same,” McDowell said, noting that there are good reasons to ensure inmates’ whereabouts were clear inside their cells. Inmates have tried blocking viewpoints in order to kill themselves, he added.
Video footage shows deadly attack
The Feb. 15, 2018, incident occurred during a recreational period. Kendrick was one of dozens of inmates in an institutional day room.
Jurors watched 17 minutes of footage that showed the moments leading up to the attack, which included three separate times Kendrick approached Baserman.
The footage did not contain audio, but Leiden and McDowell said Kendrick, who McDowell called a “freak” about cleanliness, expressed frustration that he lost his only towel.
The first two conversations between Kendrick and Baserman were brief, the footage showed.
The men stood together face-to-face near a corrections officer’s desk for approximately 15 seconds before Kendrick walked away. Several minutes later, Kendrick approached again, and they faced one another for less than a minute before parting ways.
Baserman was leaning against the desk the third time Kendrick approached. After approximately eight seconds, Kendrick started to turn away. Then he pulled back and swung forward, striking Baserman in the head.
Baserman began to drop over, and Kendrick continued, unleashing what Leiden described as a haymaker of back-and-forth strikes with his left and right hands closed.
“(It was) with all the force he could muster,” Leiden said to jurors, adding that within moments Baserman was down, dazed and no threat to hit back.
McDowell ran to his supervisor’s aid, but was only able to restrain Kendrick for a moment. McDowell said he received a cut above his eye, bruises and other injuries, and he doesn’t remember specifics about how it happened.
Over a span of several more seconds, footage showed Kendrick landing more blows to Baserman’s head, even after the corrections officer appeared to be crawling away.
“He was face-down, helpless,” Leiden said, “but (Kendrick) wasn’t done.”
Wearing heavy-duty Timberland boots on his feet, Kendrick took several quick steps forward and kicked Baserman in the head “with so much force that Kendrick went airborne,” Leiden said. Then he stood up above Baserman and walked away, footage shows.
McDowell said he and Baserman were the only officers in the day room at the time – and that was typical protocol. Within seconds, a wave of corrections officers rushed in, but the fight was already over.
McDowell was shown crouched over Baserman.
“He was talking to me and awake,” McDowell said. “I didn’t want anything else happening to him.”
Both men were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Baserman died 11 days later. Leiden said jurors will hear more about the severe brain injuries Baserman sustained – and that those injuries led to his death.
Sottile urged jurors to avoid rushing to judgment and to decide for themselves what was going through Kendrick’s mind that day.
“(The footage) is a difficult thing to see,” Sottile said, adding that surveillance video “measured in seconds” isn’t the only piece of evidence that should decide Kendrick’s fate. “Please keep an open mind. I know how difficult it is.”
Jolt to jury as three excused
Attorneys in the case spent five days last week working to pick 16 jurors for Kendrick’s trial. Just 13 remain.
A jury of 12 Somerset County residents and four alternates was in place Friday, but as the the panel entered the courtroom Tuesday for opening instructions by Cambria County Senior Judge Patrick Kiniry, who is presiding over the case, only 14 jurors were present.
As is standard procedure in a criminal jury trial, Kiniry addressed the group as the case’s “fact-finders” and urged them to avoid rushing to judgement – or even talking about the case – until all evidence and testimony are presented.
Court went into recess before opening statements, and both sides’ attorneys met in chambers. When court resumed, just 13 jurors walked into court. Kiniry did not divulge why, citing confidentiality.
During court, the longtime judge said that throughout his career, he’s seen jurors excused for a number of reasons.
“People get sick. There are emergencies at home ... things happen to us (as everyday people),” Kiniry told the remaining panel members. That’s a reason alternates are selected, so they can step in when needed to ensure 12 jurors can sit for a trial, he said.
Court Administrator Tammy Escalera said the changes mean the 12-member jury remains a panel of nine women and three men, with one woman remaining as an alternate.
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