NEW YORK — Attorney General Letitia James’ office is backing away from the criminal probe into the caught-on-camera beating death of Marcy Correctional inmate Robert Brooks, officials said Friday.

In a video update released Thursday, James said her office needs to recuse itself since four of the state Department of Corrections officers involved in the case are defendants in other cases and are represented by lawyers in the Attorney General’s office.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has been made a special prosecutor in this case and will investigate Brooks’ death, James said.

“This decision is not one that was made lightly, but we believe this is the best course of action to protect the integrity of the investigation, and to ensure accountability and justice for Mr. Brooks, his family, friends, loved ones, and for all New Yorkers,” she said.

The discovery that the AG’s office was representing some of the officers involved came to light during an “internal conflict check,” said James, who added that Brooks’ family has been informed of this decision.

“It is critically important that justice is served,” James said. “This decision ensures that it will be.”

Brooks was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy Correctional Facility, both in Oneida County on Dec. 9. Officers first took him to the Marcy infirmary, where the beating took place, officials said.

Four videos released by state Attorney General Letitia James’ office on Friday show about a half-dozen uniformed state DOC officers repeatedly punching and striking inmate Brooks, 43, as they pin him onto a gurney inside Marcy’s infirmary.

Brooks’ hands are handcuffed behind his back and his legs are shackled as the officers repeatedly punch him in the face, torso and legs. The officers also yank him around by his neck, strike him in the stomach with one of the inmate’s own shoes and appear to stuff something into his mouth.

They then hold him down and seem to cover his mouth and nose as the beatings continue, the video shows.

In the videos, Brooks appears dazed and barely conscious. He’s talking and pleading with the guards, who pretty much ignore him.

One DOC officer stomps on Brooks groin as two other officers try to subdue him on the gurney before some kind of exam. At one point another DOC officer, wearing blue latex gloves, yanks him up by the scruff of the neck and drags him to the back of the room by a window.

Other officers and prison staff are recorded smiling and joking with each other as Brooks is being manhandled.

Brooks was ultimately taken to the hospital, where he died on Dec. 10. The initial cause of death has been determined as “asphyxia due to compression of the neck.”

Upon Brooks’ death, Gov. Hochul directed the state’s corrections department commissioner to terminate more than a dozen workers involved in the fatal attack.

Earlier this week, she removed the facility’s superintendent and vowed sweeping changes to the plagued prison.

The clash between Brooks and state DOC officers was undergoing an internal review, officials said. So far, none of the officers have been criminally charged.

Brooks had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017, according to the department.

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