Opinion ID: 844268
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Assault of Rick Dixon

Text: In the fall of 1996, defendant and Dixon were inmates at the Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) in Monterey County. Building B, in which both were housed, was self-segregated by the inmates according to race; the White and Hispanic inmates occupied one side of the dayroom and yard, while the Black and other-race inmates occupied the other. Dixon understood defendant to be in charge of `the woods,' a group of White inmates. Defendant approached Dixon and told him there was a piece of shit White pedophile named Dennis, who had purchased drugs from a Black inmate, an act considered bad business by the woods. Defendant told Dixon that if he wanted to earn his bolts he would have to deal with inmate Dennis. Dixon understood this to mean that if he wanted to gain membership in the woods he would have to stab Dennis. Dixon refused, even though he knew he might suffer consequences for not acceding to defendant's request. Dixon later overheard defendant say he wanted to do something drastic to get moved . . . to Pelican Bay [State Prison] where . . . he could get more run of the place. On November 23, 1996, as Dixon was walking toward his cell, inmate Steve Petty snuck up behind him, wrapped shoestrings around his neck, and pulled him backward. Defendant then approached and stabbed Dixon with a homemade ice pick seven times in his upper chest, sides, and lower abdomen. A contrasting version of events was offered by inmate D, [2] who witnessed the assault; he testified it was defendant who grabbed Dixon from behind. He also saw Petty toss something into the shower area. A correctional officer [3] heard the commotion, sounded the alarm, and told all inmates to drop to the ground where they stood. Defendant and Petty were close to one another, separated from the other inmates in the room, and were the inmates closest to the shower area. Officers saw no blood on defendant's clothing, but they observed what looked like rope burns on his hands and found a weapon in the shower. While recovering from his wounds in the prison infirmary, Dixon viewed a photo lineup and identified defendant and Petty as his assailants. Dixon indicated that defendant had told him Steve Petty was his road dog, or crime partner, and that they ran around together in prison. Defendant was transferred to administrative segregation at Pelican Bay State Prison pending the investigation into the stabbing. He was returned to the general population at SVSP in early 1997. While defendant was on the prison yard shortly after his return, inmate D asked him if he was going to try to get his old prison job back. Defendant replied that he wasn't going to be around that long because he was going to hit a suspected child molester who needed to be gutted.