Prison: Inadequate Proof Saudi Sought Inmate Death
DENVER (AP) - Colorado prison officials said Tuesday they did not find enough evidence to take action against a Saudi inmate who was accused of trying to have another inmate killed.
No criminal charges were filed and no internal discipline was pursued against Homaidan al-Turki, said Roger Hudson, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Al-Turki is serving an indefinite prison term after he was convicted in 2006 of sexually assaulting his housekeeper and treating her as a virtual slave when he lived in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Prosecutors, who are fighting al-Turki's request to finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia, said at a court hearing last week that an inmate accused al-Turki in 2007 of trying to have a fellow inmate killed.
Prison officials released a redacted copy of a report on the alleged threat on Tuesday in response to an open-records request by The Associated Press.
Hudson said prison officials reviewed the allegation but not enough evidence was found to file administrative charges, and no criminal case was filed.
He said some inmates were moved for their own safety, but he did not identify them.
The district attorney's spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday. Al-Turki's lawyer, Hal Haddon, has said the prison allegations were baseless. He said the report substantiated that.
"It's totally consistent with what we said in court about this and it's totally inconsistent with what the prosecutors have been implying," he said.
Prosecutor Ann Tomsic raised the allegation at last week's hearing.
Al-Turki has denied assaulting or mistreating the housekeeper.
He is serving a sentence of eight years to life but has refused to participate in a mandatory prison program for sex offenders, putting his release in doubt. His lawyers say parts of the program violate his religious beliefs.
Saudi officials told a judge at last week's hearing that al-Turki could get treatment at home that would include family participation and Islamic and cultural education not available in Colorado.
Tomsic questioned whether Saudi Arabia would give al-Turki effective supervision and whether he was even a candidate for treatment because of his refusal to participate in the prison program.
The hearing resumes Thursday.
- By Dan Elliott, AP Writer
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