Former Jail Guards Plead Guilty In Fatal Beating Of SCC Inmate: DA

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Three former jail guards pleaded guilty Tuesday to beating a mentally ill inmate to death in Santa Clara County.

According to the District Attorney's Office, Matthew Farris, 36, Jereh Lubrin, 37, and Rafael Rodriguez, 40, admitted to their roles in the brutal attack in exchange for voluntary manslaughter convictions and will receive the maximum sentence of 11 years in state prison.

According to prosecutors, Michael Tyree, 31, was in custody at the Santa Clara County main jail on outstanding warrants and misdemeanor charges. He was on the waitlist for bed space at a mental health facility when the three guards entered his cell armed with batons. The DA's office said one or more of the guards began to beat Tyree, and neighboring inmates reported screams and pleas for mercy.

He died within an hour, and investigators recorded severe internal bleeding, a lacerated liver and a torn spleen. Prosecutors said further investigation revealed a "pattern of abuse and violence" against inmates by the guards as an attempt to instill fear in the jail.

A jury handed down a second-degree murder conviction against the trio in 2017, which their defense appealed after new legislation retroactively adjusted the standard to convict people of murder in cases where the identity of the person directly responsible for a death can not be conclusively proven.

The conviction was overturned, and the DA's office was in the process of retrying the murder case when they reached an agreement on voluntary manslaughter.