SUNDAY REPORT; Only California Uses Deadly Force in Inmate Fights; Since 1994, state prison guards breaking up brawls have killed 12 and seriously injured 32. In rest of nation, only six inmates were fatally shot, all while trying to escape.: [Home Edition]

Despite efforts to cut down on prison shootings, guards in California continue to kill and wound inmates engaged in fistfights and melees, a practice unheard of in every other state.

Since late 1994, when the Department of Corrections shooting policy came under criticism for its role in widespread inmate deaths, 12 prisoners have been shot dead and 32 wounded by guards firing assault rifles to stop fights.

In all other states combined, statistics and interviews show, only six inmates were fatally shot by guards in the same period--all of them while trying to escape. In no other state do guards shoot at inmate fighters, choosing instead to break up brawls and melees with pepper spray, tactical teams or warning shots.

Even in Texas, a state whose sprawling prison system is often compared to California's for its hard-nosed tactics and violent gangs, correctional officers shot and killed only one inmate--an escapee--during the past four years.

None of California's 12 recent fatal shootings took place at Corcoran State Prison, where seven inmates were shot dead from 1989 to 1994, making it at the time the deadliest prison in America.

The 44 fatal and serious shootings since late 1994 have occurred at maximum security prisons up and down the state. Only one of the inmates was armed with a weapon or was inflicting serious injury at the time the fatal shot was fired, a Times review of the cases has found. No corrections officer was facing peril, and not a single inmate was attempting to escape.

More than three-quarters of the shootings were deemed proper by Department of Corrections review boards. Only three gunners received any form of discipline--two were given reprimands and one served a 180-day suspension.

"Shooting to break up a fight is something you never see outside of California. It just doesn't occur," said Lanson Newsome, a former deputy commissioner of Georgia state corrections and now a consultant who has reviewed dozens of California prison shootings. "Fistfights can be stopped very easily and are stopped all over the country without deadly force.

"In the vast majority of cases in California, there's really no excuse for shooting. It's just the way they've been trained."

State corrections director Cal Terhune said the 12 fatal shootings and 32...