betrayed_4_life
10-24-2004, 07:06 PM
Prison deaths spur probe
By HOWARD FISCHER
Capitol Media Services
10/24/2004
PHOENIX -- Sometime in the early morning hours of Feb. 4, Edward Herndon, an inmate at the Arizona State Prison at Buckeye, used a sharp instrument to puncture two holes in his left arm.
It took several hours for Herndon to bleed out and die.
During that time he walked around his cell, as shown by the fact that he had blood on the soles of his shoes.
And other inmates in the unit said that around 3 a.m. he began banging on the cell door, yelling for the guards.
But they didn't come. Not for hours, despite the fact that their orders were to check on all inmates every half hour. Instead, they were up the hall, playing cards.
It was not until 5 a.m. that he was discovered lying face down, in a pool of his own blood.
The incident, which occurred just a week after the end of a two-week hostage standoff at the same facility, was just one of several deaths in the facility in the last two years.
An investigation by Capitol Media Services also reveals several other deaths, including:
An inmate placed in an outdoor cage in the August heat;
another suicide by a prisoner who had been on suicide watch, using the blanket he had just been given;
a maintenance worker who had a stroke but died after prison complex medical staff showed up without certain equipment.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley disclosed earlier this year that he has opened a grand jury probe into one death at the facility. But Romley would not say whether any of these are involved or if there is another incident under investigation.
It is only the Herndon case that actually resulted in any discipline against any Department of Corrections employees. Three quit, and the contract of deputy warden George Miner was ended.
Cam Hunter, publicist for the state Department of Corrections, said things have changed at the prison, especially in the aftermath of that hostage standoff where two inmates captured two guards, raping one of them.
She said Corrections Director Dora Schriro has issued various new policies and mission statements, as well as codes of conduct. But Hunter said it takes time.
"When you're trying to instill new changes, it's a daily thing," she said.
But it is only in the death of Herndon that any disciplinary actions were taken.
Herndon, 29, was serving a 23-year term on charges of after being convicted of an October 2001 manslaughter in Mohave County.
Investigator Ronald Watson reports he spoke to several people about what happened.
Inmate James Hackett, housed directly across from Herndon, said Herndon tried to hang himself sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. using a bed sheet tied to a ladder. Some time after that, Hackett said he noticed that Herndon was bleeding from his arm.
About 3 a.m., Hackett told Watson, around 1200 or 0100 using bed sheet tied to ladder. Herndon had cut on arm and bleeding. Hackett was the one who said that around Herndon began banging on his cell door and trying to get the attention, only to be ignored.
A half hour later, Hackett said, Herndon "became quiet."
Sgt. Kraft, who came on duty at 5 a.m., when Herndon was found, said his examination of the scene led him to conclude that the officers "weren't doing their jobs."
He said there was a large amount of blood "and some was coagulated." Yet the officers acted "like it was just nothing was the matter.'
"There was no way you could have not seen, even if the light was out in the cell ... the blood on the floor from the bed to the door," Kraft told the investigator.
Kraft also said inmates told him that the guards were playing cards all night long, a violation of policy.
Tiffany Ferguson, one of the guards, acknowledged there was some card playing but said it lasted no longer than 20 to 40 minutes.
Another guard, Michael Jones, insisted he had done a brief walk-through of the unit and went to almost every cell. But he said he does not remember seeing Herndon.
Ferguson resigned, as did three other guards on the unit that night as well as Krafft as their supervisor. Their commander, Lt. Edward Berry, was placed on unpaid leave for 80 hours.
RAYMOND COLE'S STORY
Raymond Cole was 50 years old when he was placed in one of the four "refuse to work" cages in the yard at the prison.
Hunter said the cages are set up because inmates are supposed to work, even if just on the grounds. She said letting someone remain in a cell would just reward that refusal.
In this case, though, Cole, serving 24 years on charges of aggravated assault, was handcuffed and taken to the cage after a guard said he became verbally disruptive after he and other inmates were being returned from the red recreation yard.
What is certain is that Cole was pulled from the cage about 10:30 a.m. unresponsive.
The medical examiner reported, according to investigator Alfred Fleming, that Cole had "very bad heart, it's a wonder that he lived this long." But Fleming said that the doctor, noting the nearly 23-hour delay between the incident and the autopsy, said he could not say whether heat was a factor.
What is less clear is whether Cole' condition was monitored and what liquids, if any, he was offered as the temperature topped 100 degrees.
One report says a maintenance worker offered Cole water between 10 and 10:15 a.m., which he declined. Another said an inmate said he asked Cole about five times whether he wanted some water but that Cole, a short distance away, did not respond. The inmate said that a guard would not let him go to the cage or give Cole water.
That inmate also said he believes Cole may have been incoherent at the time.
It also appears that Cole may have been in the direct sun for at least some period.
Fleming, in his report, said that someone who is about 6 feet tall and standing can remain in the shade until about 9:50 a.m. and until about 10:15 a.m. if sitting against the east wall of the cell. Cole, according to Department of Corrections records, was 6 feet 2 inches tall.
Another guard said he did not know whether water was provided to anyone in the four cages.
Hunter said new procedures now require water in each cage. She said that tarps for shade are standard and that photos taken the day of the incident show one on that cage.
She also said that "circumstances dictate usage," with heat or cold determining how long inmates are placed there. Hunter said while now that is "a matter of judgment" of guards, there may be specific guidelines set down in future codes.
RONALD WILSON'S STORY
Ronald Wilson, 31, had been on suicide watch. On May 15, 2003, he was removed from that watch and placed on a 15-minute mental health watch. He also was issued a regular blanket.
About 8:30 p.m. Wilson was found hanging from the air vent by a rope made from his blanket in his cell.
The reports by Department of Corrections investigators of interviews with inmates and others suggests that there was no delay in monitoring Wilson. But investigator Ronald Watson said the medical examiner found that Wilson "had a crease in his hair line on the back of his head consistent with having hung for a period of time with the rope against his head."
Inmates were not the only ones to die at the prison.
In April, maintenance worker Larry Oetjen suffered heart attack and fell striking his head on the sidewalk.
"After the complex medical staff arrived it was discovered that they did not bring a portable suction machine, a oral-pharyngeal airway or any method of intubation to insure oxygenation of the lungs or any type of portable defibrillator," the official report states. "I was told by one of the medical staff that there was no defibrillator at complex medical."
Staffers did go back for that portable suction machine, the investigator reported, with CPR performed on Oetjen until the Buckeye Fire Department could arrive.
Hunter said there already was a grant application under way to get defibrillators when the incident occurred. She said each complex in each state prison now has one.
By HOWARD FISCHER
Capitol Media Services
10/24/2004
PHOENIX -- Sometime in the early morning hours of Feb. 4, Edward Herndon, an inmate at the Arizona State Prison at Buckeye, used a sharp instrument to puncture two holes in his left arm.
It took several hours for Herndon to bleed out and die.
During that time he walked around his cell, as shown by the fact that he had blood on the soles of his shoes.
And other inmates in the unit said that around 3 a.m. he began banging on the cell door, yelling for the guards.
But they didn't come. Not for hours, despite the fact that their orders were to check on all inmates every half hour. Instead, they were up the hall, playing cards.
It was not until 5 a.m. that he was discovered lying face down, in a pool of his own blood.
The incident, which occurred just a week after the end of a two-week hostage standoff at the same facility, was just one of several deaths in the facility in the last two years.
An investigation by Capitol Media Services also reveals several other deaths, including:
An inmate placed in an outdoor cage in the August heat;
another suicide by a prisoner who had been on suicide watch, using the blanket he had just been given;
a maintenance worker who had a stroke but died after prison complex medical staff showed up without certain equipment.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley disclosed earlier this year that he has opened a grand jury probe into one death at the facility. But Romley would not say whether any of these are involved or if there is another incident under investigation.
It is only the Herndon case that actually resulted in any discipline against any Department of Corrections employees. Three quit, and the contract of deputy warden George Miner was ended.
Cam Hunter, publicist for the state Department of Corrections, said things have changed at the prison, especially in the aftermath of that hostage standoff where two inmates captured two guards, raping one of them.
She said Corrections Director Dora Schriro has issued various new policies and mission statements, as well as codes of conduct. But Hunter said it takes time.
"When you're trying to instill new changes, it's a daily thing," she said.
But it is only in the death of Herndon that any disciplinary actions were taken.
Herndon, 29, was serving a 23-year term on charges of after being convicted of an October 2001 manslaughter in Mohave County.
Investigator Ronald Watson reports he spoke to several people about what happened.
Inmate James Hackett, housed directly across from Herndon, said Herndon tried to hang himself sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. using a bed sheet tied to a ladder. Some time after that, Hackett said he noticed that Herndon was bleeding from his arm.
About 3 a.m., Hackett told Watson, around 1200 or 0100 using bed sheet tied to ladder. Herndon had cut on arm and bleeding. Hackett was the one who said that around Herndon began banging on his cell door and trying to get the attention, only to be ignored.
A half hour later, Hackett said, Herndon "became quiet."
Sgt. Kraft, who came on duty at 5 a.m., when Herndon was found, said his examination of the scene led him to conclude that the officers "weren't doing their jobs."
He said there was a large amount of blood "and some was coagulated." Yet the officers acted "like it was just nothing was the matter.'
"There was no way you could have not seen, even if the light was out in the cell ... the blood on the floor from the bed to the door," Kraft told the investigator.
Kraft also said inmates told him that the guards were playing cards all night long, a violation of policy.
Tiffany Ferguson, one of the guards, acknowledged there was some card playing but said it lasted no longer than 20 to 40 minutes.
Another guard, Michael Jones, insisted he had done a brief walk-through of the unit and went to almost every cell. But he said he does not remember seeing Herndon.
Ferguson resigned, as did three other guards on the unit that night as well as Krafft as their supervisor. Their commander, Lt. Edward Berry, was placed on unpaid leave for 80 hours.
RAYMOND COLE'S STORY
Raymond Cole was 50 years old when he was placed in one of the four "refuse to work" cages in the yard at the prison.
Hunter said the cages are set up because inmates are supposed to work, even if just on the grounds. She said letting someone remain in a cell would just reward that refusal.
In this case, though, Cole, serving 24 years on charges of aggravated assault, was handcuffed and taken to the cage after a guard said he became verbally disruptive after he and other inmates were being returned from the red recreation yard.
What is certain is that Cole was pulled from the cage about 10:30 a.m. unresponsive.
The medical examiner reported, according to investigator Alfred Fleming, that Cole had "very bad heart, it's a wonder that he lived this long." But Fleming said that the doctor, noting the nearly 23-hour delay between the incident and the autopsy, said he could not say whether heat was a factor.
What is less clear is whether Cole' condition was monitored and what liquids, if any, he was offered as the temperature topped 100 degrees.
One report says a maintenance worker offered Cole water between 10 and 10:15 a.m., which he declined. Another said an inmate said he asked Cole about five times whether he wanted some water but that Cole, a short distance away, did not respond. The inmate said that a guard would not let him go to the cage or give Cole water.
That inmate also said he believes Cole may have been incoherent at the time.
It also appears that Cole may have been in the direct sun for at least some period.
Fleming, in his report, said that someone who is about 6 feet tall and standing can remain in the shade until about 9:50 a.m. and until about 10:15 a.m. if sitting against the east wall of the cell. Cole, according to Department of Corrections records, was 6 feet 2 inches tall.
Another guard said he did not know whether water was provided to anyone in the four cages.
Hunter said new procedures now require water in each cage. She said that tarps for shade are standard and that photos taken the day of the incident show one on that cage.
She also said that "circumstances dictate usage," with heat or cold determining how long inmates are placed there. Hunter said while now that is "a matter of judgment" of guards, there may be specific guidelines set down in future codes.
RONALD WILSON'S STORY
Ronald Wilson, 31, had been on suicide watch. On May 15, 2003, he was removed from that watch and placed on a 15-minute mental health watch. He also was issued a regular blanket.
About 8:30 p.m. Wilson was found hanging from the air vent by a rope made from his blanket in his cell.
The reports by Department of Corrections investigators of interviews with inmates and others suggests that there was no delay in monitoring Wilson. But investigator Ronald Watson said the medical examiner found that Wilson "had a crease in his hair line on the back of his head consistent with having hung for a period of time with the rope against his head."
Inmates were not the only ones to die at the prison.
In April, maintenance worker Larry Oetjen suffered heart attack and fell striking his head on the sidewalk.
"After the complex medical staff arrived it was discovered that they did not bring a portable suction machine, a oral-pharyngeal airway or any method of intubation to insure oxygenation of the lungs or any type of portable defibrillator," the official report states. "I was told by one of the medical staff that there was no defibrillator at complex medical."
Staffers did go back for that portable suction machine, the investigator reported, with CPR performed on Oetjen until the Buckeye Fire Department could arrive.
Hunter said there already was a grant application under way to get defibrillators when the incident occurred. She said each complex in each state prison now has one.