Pablo Piña D-28079
D-2 122 SHU P.O. Box 7500
Crescent City, CA 95531

RE: Photocopy of the Death of My Friend

I was talking about the deaths and maiming of many SHU inmates and more closer to me. Some of my friends. I came across an article in a newspaper of the killing of my friend, Tomas, by prison guards in Corcoran SHU.

This is my friend, laying on the yard, dying from a gunshot to the back.

He was fighting on the yard with a rival gang member and knowing my boy, Tomas, he was probably putting a serious ass whipping on that fool.

I had this photo and more. In fact, I had a copy of the investigation into his murder. And the outcome.

By accident, I met a private investigator while he was interviewing me to see if I could help another friend of mine who was facing a capital murder. Afterwards, the investigator started telling me about a civil case he was working on involving the SHU killings in Corcoran State Prison. As we talked, he was telling me out one particular murder of a guy named William Martinez. Of course, I recognized his name. He was like a younger brother of mine.

The investigator and I became very good friends after that. He also put me touch with my friend's wife so I could write to her and share my thoughts.

I enclose this photocopy of the day. This was my friend, William Martinez. We called him Tomas. May he rest in peace. I sure miss him.

See photocopy taped on back page.

4-7-88 FRI A
? 25 GRAM 12

The San Jose Metro published this video frame on Oct. 29, 1998, with this caption: "A video tape obtained by Metro shows that after guards at Corcoran Sate Prison shot William Martinez in the back, they left him dying on the ground for nine minutes. Gov. Dan Lungreo's office provided evidence to the court that Martinez was removed from the yard after only 18 seconds." The accompanying story, "Houses of Pain," explains that guards had deliberately arranged for the two enemies (Martinez and Pedro Lornell) to be in the yard at the same time. A later investigation revealed that guards at Corcoran regularly staged fights between rival inmates, just for kicks. No guards were prosecuted or disciplined for the event. The Metro observes, "Taking his punitive law-and-order ideology to the extreme, Dan Lungren instructed his office to ignore murderous conditions in California's prisons."