JJT
04-30-2004, 03:36 PM
Family files suit in death of inmate at Snake River prison
Billy Owens, a mentally ill prisoner, stopped breathing as he was restrained by corrections officers in 2002
Friday, April 30, 2004 JOSEPH ROSE
The family of a schizophrenic man who died at the hands of correctional officers inside the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state and 11 prison officers.
Billy Owens, who died in disciplinary segregation on April 29, 2002, was the victim of a prison system that is failing to adequately care for mentally ill inmates and allowing excessive force by officers to go unchecked, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Owens, 45, erupted into a psychotic fit during his 70th straight day in Snake River's disciplinary segregation unit, where he was frequently sent for disruptive and violent behavior.
Owens began stabbing himself in the neck with a broken pen, prompting officers to rush into his cell and repeatedly pepper spray him, according a report reviewing his death by the Oregon Advocacy Center. Eventually, five officers in riot gear dragged him out and restrained him, pressing his face against the floor, where he stopped breathing, the report says.
As Owens lay dying, prison staff laughed and chatted, according to a Department of Corrections review of a security video from the unit. A nurse kissed an officer. Someone asked for a round of applause for the person trying to revive Owens.
An Oregon State Police investigation determined Owens' death by asphyxiation was an accident.
Better treatment urged
John Lambert, the family's Burns attorney, said he hopes the suit leads to better treatment of the mentally ill in the state's prisons, including how they're punished for bad behavior.
"The system needs to recognize the difference between actions that result from criminal behavior and mental illness," Lambert said. "I can't imagine why the state would want to continue to be subjected to this kind of judicial scrutiny."
Prison and Oregon Department of Justice officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. "We haven't seen it yet," said Perrin Damon, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.
Last fall, the federally funded Oregon Advocacy Center held up Owens' death as an example of why the prison system needs to change "inhumane, unjust and ineffective" policies of isolating unruly mentally ill inmates in disciplinary segregation.
Owens was serving 12 years for trying to kill his grandmother during a bout of psychosis.
In prison, Owens "was plagued with paranoid thoughts that his family was being tortured or was dead," the lawsuit says. "Mr. Owens acted out behaviorally in response to being tormented by his paranoid delusional thinking."
The lawsuit says his treatment in prison amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Disciplinary segregation, where prisoners spend 23 hours a day isolated with limited possessions, only exacerbated his symptoms, the suit contends.
Family seeks damages
His family is seeking unspecified economic, noneconomic and punitive damages. The suit was filed a day before the two-year statute of limitations on federal civil rights lawsuits expired.
The lawsuit contends that the correctional officers were too slow to give him medical attention once they realized he had stopped breathing. It also contends that defendant Robert Lampert, Snake River's former superintendent, repeatedly ignored complaints about officers abusing inmates.
Lampert "intentionally failed to take any preventative or remedial measures" to prevent excessive force, which led to Owens' death, the complaint contends. Lampert, now director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections, could not be reached for comment.
The 10 corrections officers involved in Owens' cell extraction are not identified in the lawsuit.
Joseph Rose: 503-221-8029; josephrose@news.oregonian.com
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Billy Owens, a mentally ill prisoner, stopped breathing as he was restrained by corrections officers in 2002
Friday, April 30, 2004 JOSEPH ROSE
The family of a schizophrenic man who died at the hands of correctional officers inside the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state and 11 prison officers.
Billy Owens, who died in disciplinary segregation on April 29, 2002, was the victim of a prison system that is failing to adequately care for mentally ill inmates and allowing excessive force by officers to go unchecked, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Owens, 45, erupted into a psychotic fit during his 70th straight day in Snake River's disciplinary segregation unit, where he was frequently sent for disruptive and violent behavior.
Owens began stabbing himself in the neck with a broken pen, prompting officers to rush into his cell and repeatedly pepper spray him, according a report reviewing his death by the Oregon Advocacy Center. Eventually, five officers in riot gear dragged him out and restrained him, pressing his face against the floor, where he stopped breathing, the report says.
As Owens lay dying, prison staff laughed and chatted, according to a Department of Corrections review of a security video from the unit. A nurse kissed an officer. Someone asked for a round of applause for the person trying to revive Owens.
An Oregon State Police investigation determined Owens' death by asphyxiation was an accident.
Better treatment urged
John Lambert, the family's Burns attorney, said he hopes the suit leads to better treatment of the mentally ill in the state's prisons, including how they're punished for bad behavior.
"The system needs to recognize the difference between actions that result from criminal behavior and mental illness," Lambert said. "I can't imagine why the state would want to continue to be subjected to this kind of judicial scrutiny."
Prison and Oregon Department of Justice officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. "We haven't seen it yet," said Perrin Damon, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.
Last fall, the federally funded Oregon Advocacy Center held up Owens' death as an example of why the prison system needs to change "inhumane, unjust and ineffective" policies of isolating unruly mentally ill inmates in disciplinary segregation.
Owens was serving 12 years for trying to kill his grandmother during a bout of psychosis.
In prison, Owens "was plagued with paranoid thoughts that his family was being tortured or was dead," the lawsuit says. "Mr. Owens acted out behaviorally in response to being tormented by his paranoid delusional thinking."
The lawsuit says his treatment in prison amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Disciplinary segregation, where prisoners spend 23 hours a day isolated with limited possessions, only exacerbated his symptoms, the suit contends.
Family seeks damages
His family is seeking unspecified economic, noneconomic and punitive damages. The suit was filed a day before the two-year statute of limitations on federal civil rights lawsuits expired.
The lawsuit contends that the correctional officers were too slow to give him medical attention once they realized he had stopped breathing. It also contends that defendant Robert Lampert, Snake River's former superintendent, repeatedly ignored complaints about officers abusing inmates.
Lampert "intentionally failed to take any preventative or remedial measures" to prevent excessive force, which led to Owens' death, the complaint contends. Lampert, now director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections, could not be reached for comment.
The 10 corrections officers involved in Owens' cell extraction are not identified in the lawsuit.
Joseph Rose: 503-221-8029; josephrose@news.oregonian.com
Copyright 2004 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved. if (window.print) window.print();