New York prison guard ‘did nothing’ as inmate was beaten to death: prosecutors

A New York prison guard who stood idly by as other guards beat a handcuffed inmate to death should be convicted of manslaughter, prosecutors argued Thursday.

Former corrections officer Michael Fisher, 55, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for the death of Robert Brooks, 43, who was seen being repeatedly pummeled in an examination room at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 9, 2024 in sickening body camera footage.

“For seven minutes — seven gut-churning, nauseating, disgusting minutes — he stood in that room close enough to touch him, and he did nothing,” Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told jurors during closing arguments on Thursday.

Fisher was among 10 prison guards indicted in connection with Brooks’ death in February.

He is the last to stand trial as three others agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges. Six other guards pleaded guilty to manslaughter or lesser charges, four rejected plea deals, one was convicted of murder, and two others were acquitted in a trial last fall.

Video shown to jurors captured Fisher standing in the doorway as multiple officers began brutalizing Brooks while he was handcuffed behind his back.

Body-worn camera footage from the incident showed the guards punching Brooks in the face and stomach, even stomping him in his lower torso.

At one point during the nearly 30-minute excruciating clip, one guard appeared to hold Brooks in a chokehold for a moment as he was forced to sit up on an exam table.

He died the next day from compression of the neck and multiple blunt-impact injuries, the Onondaga County medical examiner later ruled.

“Did Michael Fisher recklessly cause the death of Robert Brooks? Of course he did. Not by himself. He had plenty of other helpers,” Fitzpatrick told the courtroom.

Fisher’s attorney, Scott Iseman, urged jurors to consider what Fisher could have known at the time of the beatdown “without the benefit of 2020 hindsight.”

Iseman also argued that Fisher entered the infirmary room after the beating began and could not have been aware of the extent of Brooks’s injuries.

The incident sparked outrage from lawmakers, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called for those involved in the brutal attack to be terminated and criminally charged. 

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision launched an internal probe and placed 13 correctional officers and two nurses on unpaid suspension after the shocking incident. One officer resigned.