Grand Forks County Correctional Center employees testify about protest

Feb. 6—GRAND FORKS — On the first day of the trial against a Grand Forks man accused of inciting or leading a riot at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center, his defense attorney told the jury his client simply couldn't have committed the crime.

"He was locked in his cell," Kevin McCabe said during his opening statement on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 6. "He had no power over any of the inmates."

Megan Essig, representing the state, as well as witnesses Correctional Officer Mia Tenorio and Sgt. Kashondre Duff, disagreed with McCabe's assessment of

what occurred at the correctional center

on the night of Sept. 20.

Everyone agrees, though, that while his fellow inmates were tying doors shut, pouring mop water on the floors and obscuring their faces as well as surveillance footage — as seen in a surveillance clip displayed to the jury — Kyle Martin Heintz was locked in his cell.

That night, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., Pod 3A inmates were informed only half their commissary orders came from Turnkey in Fargo and, as a result, they would not be handed out until the following evening. Orders were already late, according to correctional staff testimony.

Learning this, Heintz allegedly "began screaming and yelling at correctional staff, kicking the door of his cell" and hitting the window repeatedly, Essig said during her opening statement.

"The defendant was the only inmate initially acting this way, as most of the other inmates were sitting around in the pod," she said. "However, once the defendant began to act out, other inmates followed suit and began to act out as well."

Both Tenorio and Duff testified that, at first, it seemed like the Pod 3A inmates would eventually lock down in their cells for the night. Pod 3A inmates weren't the only ones in Pod 3 refusing to lock down, but they were the only ones who followed through on the threat, according to staff testimony.

"(Heintz) ended up saying that they weren't going to take it, that they weren't going to lock down," Tenorio testified.

She left unit A and went to units B-F to explain the commissary issue. When she returned for her hourly rounds, Tenorio and the other correctional officer working in Pod 3 that evening decided not to enter.

"It got dangerous," she said. "... I was told I was going to get hurt if I entered the unit."

Duff was called to the unit, where she spoke with Heintz and other inmates and attempted to get them to lock down for the night, she testified.

At one point, an inmate — not Heintz — said "riot," then others repeated it.

"They were just screaming, 'riot,'" Tenorio said.

When Duff learned that doors were being tied shut, among other disturbances, she called dispatch and requested law enforcement presence at the correctional center. Heintz was handing items — such as a sheet to tie to the door — underneath the door of his cell during this time, according to testimony and surveillance footage.

Tenorio testified that Heintz was giving instructions to inmates, such as telling them to tie the door and keep anyone from entering the unit.

Approximately 12 to 14 officers from the Grand Forks Police Department and Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene, she said.

Along with Class C felony inciting or leading a riot in a correctional facility, Heintz is charged with Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief resulting in willful damage. The second charge arises from allegations that he cracked his cell window by banging on it.

However, in his opening statement, McCabe said future defense testimony will reveal that the window only cracked once a law enforcement officer shot a beanbag round into Pod 3A.

"I watched it break," said Tenorio, who testified that the first crack was caused by Heintz striking the window, and subsequent cracks were caused when a sheriff's deputy hit the window with one of the shotguns that was used to shoot beanbags.

Surveillance footage of the time after GFPD and GFCSO arrived on scene was not shown in court, likely because the footage became obscured before then. Body camera footage was submitted as evidence, but it's unclear whether it will be shown during Heintz's trial.

Trial will continue Wednesday morning, Feb. 7, with Duff's cross-examination. The state plans to rest its case after Duff's testimony ends. Multiple sheriff's office employees were listed as witnesses in court documents, but the state is not required to call every witness.

The defense plans to call three witnesses from the correctional center.

If convicted of inciting or leading a riot, Heintz faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.