With Juan Ortiz admitting he attacked two guards in the Freeborn County Jail last August, attorneys tried to paint contrasting pictures of how badly he intended to hurt the officers during the opening day of Ortiz’s trial Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 18, 2001

With Juan Ortiz admitting he attacked two guards in the Freeborn County Jail last August, attorneys tried to paint contrasting pictures of how badly he intended to hurt the officers during the opening day of Ortiz’s trial Tuesday.

A videotaped confession, recorded hours after the attack last August 3 and played for the jury Tuesday, showed an emotional Ortiz saying he punched jailers Mark Oakland and Jolynn Johnson, but that he didn’t mean to hurt them badly and that he only assaulted the jailers because he feared extradition to Maryland, where he was wanted for other crimes. Ortiz said he was afraid other prison inmates there would have killed him.

Assistant County Attorney David Walker told a different story, however. While Ortiz, in the videotape, insisted he punched each jailer once, Walker said three other inmates will testify that Ortiz repeatedly punched both officers, including while one of them was apparently unconscious on the floor.

Oakland, the first jailer to be assaulted, testified Tuesday that he has no memory of the day, except for a few minutes before the attack. A doctor and other officers testified that Oakland did not know what had happened to him after the attack.

&uot;The deputy’s eyes were rolled back in his head,&uot; Walker told the jury.

Walker also worked to show that Oakland’s injuries were severe.

Oakland was taken to Albert Lea Medical Center with a cut on the back of his head and an apparent concussion after the assault. Dr. Fernando Partida, who was working in the emergency room at the time, told the jury he considered Oakland’s injuries serious enough to transfer him to St. Marys in Rochester.

The jailer showed symptoms of a concussion and Partida said he was worried that he may have suffered bleeding inside his skull, which can be fatal.

Defense attorney Chester Swenson countered that CAT scans of Oakland’s brain showed no evidence of inter-cranial bleeding, and that photos taken after the attack showed no bruises on Oakland’s face or body.

Ortiz is charged with three counts of assault and one count of attempting to escape custody. One of the assault counts charges him with use of deadly force.

Walker dedicated much of the opening day of testimony to establishing the events after the attack. Three officers testified that they were working the night of the assault, and rode an elevator up to the jail Johnson ran into the law enforcement center for help.

They all testified that Ortiz froze as soon as officers confronted him, dropped a set of keys he had taken from Oakland, and started saying he &uot;had nothing to lose&uot; and that he hoped the officers he attacked were not badly hurt.

Officers also testified that they observed the crime scene afterward, including smears of blood on the floor, walls and bars around where Oakland was attacked.

Prosecution testimony was to continue this morning when the trial resumed.