Opinion ID: 1314955
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Gary Sauls

Text: During the assault, inmate Gary Sauls was in his cell at the other end of the cell block. A small crackbetween 3/8-5/8 existed between the door of his cell and the wall. Sauls testified that he was looking through the crack watching the action down by the first four or five cells, about 65 to 75 feet away. He saw Reimer reach out to touch the inmate and, in response, Teodorovic threw his hands up, possibly striking Reimer in the face. Sauls then saw Reimer grab Teodorovic in a bear hug, spin him around, and slam him to the floor, with Teodorovic's hands pinned to his sides. According to Sauls, Teodorovic struck the floor on an even plane, with his head pointing toward the Bubble and away from Sauls. When Teodorovic was on the ground, Sauls saw Reimer kneeling over him with his hands on him to restrain him, to hold him down. Sauls testified that while Reimer was holding Teodorovic down, he saw Coté run to the scene and kick Teodorovic in the face. After that kick, Coté bent down and he started beating [Teodorovic] with his fist. He hit him in the face. He hit him in the head. He hit him in the shoulder, in the back. Then, after he was beating on him, then he got up and he started stomping him. Sauls characterized Coté's demeanor as out of control, and recalled Coté cursing, saying `Don't you ever, you stupid mother fucker.' Although Sauls did not quantify the number of kicks and stomps he observed when he testified on direct examination, he was confronted on cross-examination with a statement he had given investigators on the day of the incident, in which he said, The officer stomped the inmate's head into the floor approximately 15 to 17 times. Sauls agreed that his estimate could have been accurate, adding, [o]ne was too many times.