Daniel Tavares has been in the DDU for five years and is not scheduled to leave until his original sentence -- 13 years for manslaughter -- is up on December 21, 2005. In 1991, he stabbed his mother to death in an argument. While in the DDU, Tavares has had many disputes with officers, some of them physical, which have resulted in repeated extensions of his DDU sentence as well as the loss of radio and television. Tavares, 37, has a graying, thinning crewcut and jagged teeth. He talks slowly and deliberately, and behind heavy eyelids, he seems to struggle to contain his anger. Prison officials view him as a troublemaker. While Tavares is being interviewed, an officer stands against a wall and videotapes him. Officials say they often videotape him when he is out of the cell, to document his actions and to have evidence to refute charges he might make.Tavares admits he has been a difficult prisoner but says it is because he has been abused. He says he has scars where officers have deliberately hurt him. "How many times can you kick a dog before he bites back?" he asks.
Prison officials deny Tavares's abuse charges. Commissioner Dennehy acknowledges there have been infrequent cases of prisoner mistreatment in the DDU and says that officers have been disciplined. "There is no waffling on that," Dennehy says. "The bottom line is we don't tolerate it."