Vaughn defendant admits planning uprising, says officer's death a 'tragedy'

One of three men currently on trial for murder tied to the uprising at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center told a jury Tuesday that he organized the hostage standoff as a protest against deficiencies in Delaware's prison system. 

Dwayne Staats, who is standing trial for murder, assault, riot, kidnapping and other charges, told the jury he recruited men to overpower the guards in Vaughn's Building C and hold them hostage so his message would reach Gov. John Carney. 

Capping a three-week trial that saw half a dozen inmates give contradictory stories about the defendants' roles, Staats, who is defending himself, calmly used his testimony to read and annotate for the jury a letter he wrote to an inmate after the uprising. The letter was entered into evidence by prosecutors during the trial. 

"My goal was to do something to expose this place to where the public and government will take notice," Staats read. 

Through his testimony, he took credit for planning the uprising and personally taking prison counselor Patricia May hostage. May was held hostage along with three correctional officers at the Smyrna jail. Officer Lt. Steven Floyd was found dead when police breached the building after the 18-hour standoff. 

Staats, who is serving a life sentence for murder, said Floyd's death was a "tragedy" and "not part of the plan." He said a group "splintered" from his plans and murdered Floyd. He accepted his responsibility as it occurred during his planned takeover. 

"I've got to eat that," he said. 

Before his testimony, Staats called inmate Curtis Demby to the stand to recount a conversation the two had prior to the uprising. Demby told the jury Staats sought to recruit him for the takeover. He said Staats was approaching fellow "lifers" to take over the building given that they had less to lose.

Demby said the two agreed that prison conditions "sucked" and protest was in order. He said he declined to participate, and that Staats' proposal involved overpowering the guards. 

"Killing guards was definitely not in the plan," Demby said, declining to name others who participated in the uprising. 

Having established himself to the jury as the orchestrator, Staats walked through his role the morning of the takeover. 

He said his entrance into the counselor's office the morning of the uprising was the "signal" for others to take action. As he secured May, witnesses have said the three guards in the building were beaten into submission, handcuffed and put into closets. 

Staats said he took May, the counselor, captive by brandishing a knife. His immediate goal was to contact The News Journal with a list of demands he had in his pocket, he said.

The uprising almost ended minutes after it started, he said. 

After he had put a bag over May's head, a team of guards rushed into the building near where he was standing. One of those officers testified that Floyd warned him from a locked closet that they had walked into a trap. They retreated out of the building, he said. 

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Seconds later, a team of maintenance workers encountered Staats in the hallway. One of the men threatened to douse him with chemicals he was carrying, which allowed the men to retreat into the building's basement. 

Staats said no trap had been set for the responding officers and he would have run had the maintenance workers sprayed the chemicals. He said either group could have "shut it down."

The fact that they didn't told him the uprising was "supposed to happen."

From there, he said his night was spent primarily roaming the halls and seeking an audience with or commitment from Carney via walkie-talkies commandeered from the guards. 

After unsuccessful lawsuits dealing with prison conditions, petitions and peaceful protests, he said he felt he needed to reach the highest rungs of power in the state.

"It was time, he said, adding the uprising "had to happen" for conditions to improve.

He pointed out that Perry Phelps was the former warden at Vaughn and had been promoted to commissioner of Delaware's prisons. So writing him about conditions would do no good, he said. 

Carney's name came up several times in radio transmissions between the inmates and hostage negotiators. That audio was played for the jury multiple times.

Deputy Attorney General John Downs pressed Staats about saying others could have ended the standoff when he was the one who set the event in motion.

Staats said the uprising could have ended quickly with the hostages released had negotiators actually worked with him.

"The governor didn't show his face to come get (May)," Staats said. 

Downs pressed him on Floyd's death. He asked him why he didn't intervene when Floyd was beaten and his body burned. 

"I didn't know anything about that," Staats said. 

Downs asked why Staats didn't intervene to protect Floyd given that he previously said he recruited an inmate to protect May.  

"Ms. May is an elderly woman so I paid special attention to her over a correctional officer," Staats said. "I'm sorry." 

Downs asked why Staats didn't allow help when he learned of the severity of Floyd's injuries. The state's medical examiner testified that Floyd could have been saved if medical care had gotten to him sooner.

"I was waiting for a letter of intent from the governor," Staats said, claiming hostage negotiators said that letter was in the works. 

A request to interview Carney about any potential letter or any role he played in the negotiation was not granted Wednesday. A spokesman reiterated a previous statement saying Carney trusted trained professionals to "make decisions" in negotiations during the uprising. 

Downs pressed Staats on his testimony that he didn't kill anybody and that Floyd's death was not part of the plan. He asked him if the plan was to overpower the guards by any means necessary and if it would have been OK if all three died.

Staats agreed he was willing to employ "any means necessary" but said violence wasn't the point. 

"It still would have been a tragedy," he said. 

Staats said people were "oblivious" about the conditions in Delaware prisons — both the lack of rehabilitative programs for inmates and support for Department of Corrections employees — until the uprising. 

He said the effects of the uprising continue to "reverberate." He said changes have happened though Carney wasn't working on "my time." 

Staats cited a review ordered by Carney after the riot that found that a lack of programs for inmates, and an "us vs. them" mentality between rank-and-file and officials led to the violent uprising.

The state has sought to introduce security upgrades, increase pay for correctional officers and add programs for inmates. 

"It feels surreal that everything that transpired came from one thought," Staats said quoting his letter. 

Downs pressed Staats to name those he recruited for the takeover.

Staats said Jarreau Ayers and Deric Forney, his two co-defendants, were not involved. He said he couldn't remember the rest, poking at Delaware State Police Detective David Weaver's failure to answer many of Ayers' questions about his investigation on cross examination. Ayers is also representing himself.

"I can't remember," Staats said. "I think me and Mr. Weaver have the same condition."

Following Staats' testimony, Forney took the stand, denying other inmates' testimony that he was part of the initial assault and kidnapping of one of the guards.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Ayers testified that he was not part of the initial assault and tried to help those with medical problems during the uprising. 

"Sgt. Floyd should not have died," he said. "Bad things happen when you have good intentions."

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.