Plea hearing for SRCI inmate set
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:59 AM PST
Vale — An Snake River Correctional Institution inmate charged in the aggravated murder of a fellow inmate was arraigned Dec. 2, with his plea date slated for January. Malheur County Circuit Court Judge J. Burdette Pratt did not set bail for John Floyd Steele, 37, at the arraignment because Steele is still serving time at the facility, according to Malheur County Deputy District Attorney Erin Landis.
Steele’s release date is currently scheduled for April 1, 2032. Prior to serving his current sentence, Steele was convicted of rape in the first degree and burglary in the first degree and was released Dec. 21, 2001.
He began serving his current sentence in April 2002 for two robbery charges out of Deshutes County. While imprisoned in Umatilla County in 2002 on the two robbery charges, he was convicted on an assault charge and assaulting an officer, according to SRCI Community Coordinator/ Public Information Officer Amber Campbell. The victim, James Ivan Briggs, 61, was found dead in his cell in Complex 1 at 6:52 a.m. May 12. Steele is slated to enter a plea at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 12.
However, Landis said he believed that date would most likely be continued. The reason for this, he said, is because a murder case takes a great deal of time to investigate and Defense Attorney Mark Rader had gotten involved in the case only recently. In a phone interview Thursday, Rader said he has been involved in the case for about a week. He also said he did not know if he would request a continuance at this point.
“I will if I have to,” he said.
Rader said he would like to take as much time as he needs to gather information, since the death penalty is “on the table."
