ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal judge has sided with an inmate over missing videotapes taken during the man's 17-hour restraint at a south-central Missouri prison.
U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr ruled Monday that he agrees with offender Darrin Walker that the Missouri Department of Corrections intentionally destroyed the videotapes to "suppress the truth."
Dorr said he would instruct the jury at Walker's Nov. 9 civil rights trial that the missing videotapes would have been unfavorable to the corrections department.
Walker, a convicted murderer, says he was restrained without water or bathroom breaks for at least 17 hours for refusing to have a cellmate at the state prison in Licking.
Corrections officials claim Walker was offered breaks and water but refused them. The department declined to comment Wednesday.
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