ROBERT BROOKS’ KILLERS’ TRIAL LIVE BLOG
DAY 4
Defendant Mathew Galliher listening to his lawyer’s opening argument during his and two other guards’ murder trial for killing Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
UTICA, NEW YORK Oct. 9, 2025
10:00PM
Day four of the murder trial for 3 of the guards charged with killing Robert Brooks is starting with testimony from a doctor who treated him after he was assaulted by prisoners at the Mohawk Correctional Facility—before he was transferred to the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9 where he was killed by guards less than an hour after he got there.
Dr. Andrea Martin was working at Wynn Hospital in Utica when Brooks was transported by ambulance from Mohawk on Dec. 7, 2024. He reported he was hit with a combination lock and was knocked out unconscious. At the time of her examination, Brooks told Dr. Martin said he was feeling nauseous and "he did have a headache." His blood pressure and pulse had returned to normal from the lows testified to by a prison nurse who treated him before he was taken by ambulance to Wynn.
Dr. Martin ordered a CT scan for head injuries. Martin said the tests revealed "no acute findings." Brooks had no broken bones, no fractures and no brain bleed.
Martin also testified Brooks was "pleasant, respectful, awake, alert, oriented." Combined with Brooks' non-threatening demeanor at Mohawk, as testified to by a nurse yesterday, the defense is now facing a significant challenge in painting Brooks as violent and threatening—which is key to their defense.
10:45 AM
Michael Peacock, who was a prisoner at Mohawk with Robert Brooks, has been called to testify. He’s still in state custody. He was brought into court in his green prison uniform, handcuffed, black-boxed and with leg irons retraining his ankles.
Its hard to believe Judge Bauer is allowing court officers to require Peacock to be shackled in such a way before the jury in a murder trial. The special prosecutor, William Fitzpatrick, must have been aware this was a risk but it seems likely he lost that fight with Judge Bauer.
11:01AM
Peacock's testimony has turned out to be the blockbuster of the trial so far.
According to Peacock, Brooks' trouble started on Dec. 7 when he threw up in his living quarters (called a "cube") in a communal living space (called a dormitory). The regular officer who worked the dormitory was named "Mrs. A." Mrs. A discovered Brooks had thrown up and instructed him to clean it up.
When Brooks didn't clean it up fast enough for Mrs. A, she talked to the leader of a gang who controlled the dorm and asked him to deal with Brooks. Peacock named the gang leader as Swift. Swift beat Brooks with two other prisoners, Sparks and Stacks.
That night, Dec. 7-8, Brooks didn't sleep. He spent the entire night sitting on top of a locker in his cube. That morning he threw up again.
Referring to what Mrs. A had told the gang, Peacock testified "She didn't have to direct them what to do" the second time, "The guys already know what to do—if he threw up again."
The gang trapped Brooks in his cube. Swift told him, "Didn't Mrs. A tell you not to throw up again,” Peacock said.
This time, Swift hit him with a lock in a sock while Sparks and Stacks punched him. He escaped by crawling toward the day room and yelling for help.
"Help me!, please help me!," Brooks screamed, Peacock said.
Mrs. A re-entered the dorm and Brooks was taken to the infirmary, for the second time in three days.
Peacock's chains jingled while he testified. When Luibrand, Galliher’s lawyer, cross-examined him, he called Peacock "Mr. Brooks" and asked him about the chains—highlighting their presence for the jury.
2:12PM
The prosecution is now laying the testimonial ground work the rules of evidence require for admission of the bodycam video that unintionally captured the guards killing Brooks.
2:15PM
Judge Bauer has accepted the 4 segments of body camera footage from cameras worn by 4 of the guards that inadvertently captured them killing Brooks. There was never any doubt that footage would be admitted into evidence.
The prosecution is playing the first video, from Sgt. Glenn Trombly's camera. Robert Brooks jr. is sitting in the same place he was yesterday: directly behind defendant Kingsley and on a bench next to Kingsley's wife.
Each of the defendants are sitting stone still like statues. The only sound in the courtroom is reporters typing on computers. The jury is watching the video intently. Ocassionally, jurors look away from the screens in front of them for a moment to stare at the defendants arrayed at 3 different tables as if to say, 'How could you do this?'"
Many jurors are holding their faces as they watch.
The defendants’ eyes are locked on the screens too, no doubt following the instructions of their attorneys to do so that the jury doesn’t get angry that they’re forced to watch a murder while the defendants look away.
Subtle things like that sometimes matter a lot in jury trials.
3:03 PM
Imagine sitting in a room with the men who killed your father, while watching those same men kill your father on video.
That’s Robert Brooks jr'.’s world right now as the prosecution plays the second of the four videos on a giant screen in the courtroom, this one from CO Michael Fisher.
FIsher was originally scheduled to go on trial with these three defendants. But he convinced Judge Bauer to schedule a seperate trial for him in January.
3:55PM
Judge Bauer concludes the trial for the day. Still remaining to testify for the prosecution is the medical examiner and the cooperating defendants, Robert Kessler and Sgt. Glenn Trombly—leader of the beat-up squad that killed Brooks.
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