Is an Ely Max inmate being railroaded to death row?
In a motion filed this week in White Pine District court, Public Defender Charles Odgers accused the state of withholding evidence that proves his client, James Ofeldt, innocent of the murder of fellow inmate and cell mate Erik Houser two years ago.
click link for motion: CR1-p0001 – p0011
According to the motion prosecutors conducted several interviews with four other inmates identified as white gang members including the leader of the gang at Ely Max. In addition to keeping those interviews secret from the defense, Odgers claimed that in at least one interview the inmate not only admitted to being the gang’s leader but also to giving the order to Hauser to murder Ofeldt.
Ofeldt claim to self defense has been the core of his case all along and if Odgers claim is true it could result in the dismissal of murder charges against the man. Portions of the motion are published on this page and the complete motion is available on the High desert Advocate’s website:www.coyote-tv.com.
Even before the latest charges the state’s case against Ofeldt was unraveling.
Set to go to trial this July, Ofeldt’s attorneys have laid at least a preliminary case of self defense and according to more than a few pieces of correspondence between prison officials and the White Pine county Sheriff’s office they may have enough to raise at least a reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors.
Documents obtained by the Advocate at least suggest that both investigators from the prison and the White Pine County Sheriff’s Department did not dismiss that angle out of hand.
click link for documents obtained by Advocate: espdocs
According to those and other documents Ofeldt was fingered for killing to seal a truce between two white prison gangs the Aryan Warriors and the Skin Heads. Ofeldt, the correspondence suggest was accused of being a snitch by the Aryan Warriors and to do the job Erik “Bingo” Houser was picked for the job.
According to the story, Houser who had little if any gang ties was ordered to befriend Ofeldt and offer to share a cell with him. Ofeldt eventually agreed and so did the prison administration. They moved in together about a month before the killing.
Sometime after they began sharing a cell Ofeldt was approached by on of the leaders of the Aryan warriors to trade a Plexiglas knife Ofeldt had fashioned. Ofeldt, according to the story gave up the shank but began to realize that the weapon was meant for him.
Most of the evidence supporting the story boils down to prison gossip, however at least some of the documents reproduced in this issue suggest that some prison staff were alerted to possible problems regarding Ofeldt and Houser well before the killing occurred.
The documents also indicate that several inmates knew that a killing had taken place shortly after the event but were surprised that it was Houser and not Ofeldt who was the victim.
The documents obtained by the Advocate also suggest surprising lax conditions at the prison. According to one stamped 00053 food was delivered twice to the cell Ofeldt and Houser were sharing before it was discovered that Houser had been killed.
Most inmates at Ely Max, like Ofeldt and Houser, are locked down 23 hours out of 24. Food is delivered to their cells and not served in a cafeteria and prisoner counts are taken at least once every four hours.
Odger’s motion also revealed one other interesting fact. While the four inmates were all in Ely Max at the time of the killing all four had since been transferred to the medium security prison in Lovelock.
While life in Lovelock is by no means paradise to inmates at Ely Max it is a much better place to do time.
Unlike the 23 hour lock down and numerous head counts in a place known by cons as ‘The Graveyard’, Lovelock Correctional Center offers a wide range of programs for all of the inmate population and an opportunity to enroll in educational classes in pursuit of a GED, high school diploma or college degrees. Lovelock’s Legislative approved program, Structured Living Program is one of the most successful. SLP initially started as a 10 week military-style institutional orientation program. With the popularity among inmates to enroll, this program quickly expanded to a six month regimen with opportunities for inmates to earn Merit Credits, attend classes, programs, education, attain jobs and participate in physical fitness training. Lovelock has begun offering inmates some vocational training in areas of dry cleaning, culinary food service, and automotive maintenance and repair. Lovelock also has its own medical and mental health staff serving the inmate population.
