NBC / The Chicago Tribune had an interesting account of a South African delegation’s reaction after touring a Cook County, IL, jail facility. (The account was buried towards the end of an article about the Cook County criminal justice system.)
A mentally ill woman died after a stun gun was used on her at the Fairfax County jail in Virginia last February. Fairfax County sits next to Washington, D.C.
Natasha McKenna was restrained with handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles and a mask when a sheriff’s deputy shocked her four times, according to incident reports, states The Washington Post.
McKenna initially cooperated with deputies, placed her hands through her cell door food slot and agreed to be handcuffed, the reports show.
But McKenna, whose deteriorating mental state had caused Fairfax to seek help for her, then began trying to fight her way out of the cuffs, repeatedly screaming, “You promised you wouldn’t hurt me!” the reports show, states The Washington Post.
Six members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team – including two supervisors – were dressed in white full-body biohazard suits and gas masks, and placed a struggling 130-pound McKenna into full restraints, states Patch.com.
“But when McKenna wouldn’t bend her knees so she could be placed into a wheeled restraint chair, a lieutenant delivered four 50,000-volt shocks from the Taser, enabling the other deputies to strap her into the chair, the reports show,” stated the Washington Post.
Attorney Harvey J. Volzer said doctors have told the family that the 37-year-old woman was stunned as many as five times during an encounter with sheriff’s deputies as they prepared to transfer her to Alexandria to face a charge stemming from a fight with police there, states The Washington Post.
According to Patch.com, the Fairfax County Police Department, in conjunction with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, released the following details Thursday regarding the current in-custody death investigation of Alexandria resident Natasha McKenna:
“On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Alexandria City Police Department obtained a felony warrant against Natasha McKenna for assaulting a law enforcement officer(Code of Virginia §18.2-57). The assault occurred during an encounter they had with her on Thursday, Jan. 15.
On Sunday, Jan. 25, McKenna called the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications Center reporting that she had been assaulted. The arriving Fairfax County police officer then assisted her with making the report and she agreed to be examined at a local hospital for her alleged injuries. Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division and Crime Scene Section also responded to conduct a follow-up investigation.
While at the hospital with McKenna, detectives and a victim services specialist assisted with the investigative efforts. During the course of the investigative efforts, McKenna elected to no longer pursue the investigation and declined further police services. During the course of the investigation, a record check revealed McKenna had the outstanding arrest warrant for assaulting a law enforcement officer in Alexandria City.
On Monday, Jan. 26, shortly after 1 a.m., McKenna was transported from the hospital to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC), where the warrant was served and she was remanded to the custody of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, as directed by a Fairfax County magistrate. The Sheriff’s Office made contact with Alexandria at approximately 7:40 a.m. to inform them that they were holding an inmate with an Alexandria City charge.
On Saturday, Jan. 31, McKenna physically assaulted a Fairfax County deputy sheriff while incarcerated at the ADC.
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, pursuant to its protocols for managing combative inmates, made a decision to have the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT) remove McKenna from her cell for transport to the detention center in the City of Alexandria as related to her charge that originated in the City of Alexandria. As the SERT attempted to secure McKenna in her cell and restrain her for transport, she physically resisted the deputies and refused their commands. The SERT consisted of six deputy sheriffs, which included two supervisors.
During the struggle to restrain McKenna, a member of the SERT deployed a conducted energy weapon (Taser) on McKenna. While being restrained, deputies placed a spit net (which is designed to restrict and prevent spitting) on McKenna. A nurse from the ADC medical staff was present at that time to check on her prior to transport and cleared her for transport. Deputies attempted to put her in a medical transport chair, but McKenna continued to be combative and was moved to a restraint chair for transport to a vehicle transfer area, commonly known as a sally port.
A Fairfax County deputy sheriff was assigned to record the deployment of the SERT and the video is currently retained as evidence by detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department and will not be released at this time.
Deputies escorted McKenna from the cell area to the sally port where the transport vehicle was waiting. Once at the sally port, medical personnel from the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office checked McKenna and determined she was experiencing a medical emergency. The spit net and restraints were removed and medical staff and deputies from the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office administered CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) while awaiting rescue personnel from the Fairfax City Fire Department. McKenna was then transported to the hospital by ambulance and after life support was removed, died on Sunday, Feb. 8.
There were reports from outside sources that alluded to McKenna suffering an amputated finger. However, the investigation by detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department affirmed that McKenna had a pre-existing injury (missing the tip of her ring finger on her left hand), which was noted during the arrest booking on Monday, Jan. 26.
To date, detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department have conducted an extensive number of comprehensive interviews, and the in-custody death investigation is active and on-going. When complete, detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division will present their entire investigation, which will include any video and data from the conducted energy weapon, along with the findings of the Office of the Medical Examiner (still awaiting report), to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for an independent review to determine if there is any criminal liability under the Code of Virginia.
All information provided in this release is based on the ongoing investigation and may be subject to revision as the investigation continues. The Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office continue to work together to release information and complete a swift, thorough investigation. The Fairfax County Police Department will provide further updates within the next 30 days or as soon as additional information becomes available.”
More here:
(Updated post)
Most people would understand if teachers involved in a cheating scandal were fired, but sent to jail? Eleven former Atlanta educators have been convicted of “racketeering” for their involvement in a scheme to inflate students’ test scores on standardized exams.
According to sources, they face up to 20 years in jail.
“A former substitute teacher convicted of showing a movie including graphic sex and violence to a high school class was sentenced on Wednesday to 90 days in jail,” according to the Huffington Post.
The teacher should be disciplined by the school, but should she be put in jail?
Sheila Kearns, who was convicted in January of four felony counts, showed it to her Spanish classes at Columbus’ East High School in April 2013.
The movie, “The ABCs of Death,” consists of 26 chapters, each depicting some form of grisly death, states The Huffington Post.
Kearns, who showed the movie during five periods of the class, was convicted of “disseminating matter harmful to juveniles,” according to The Huffington Post.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the judge placed her on probation for three years but made the jail time a condition of probation.
Do judges ever have a conscience that catches up with them? Do they ever regret harsh punishments? Are their hands ever tied over sentencing?
Weldon Angelos was just 24 years old when he was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for three marijuana sales, according to Yahoo! News. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of federal prisoners serving decades-long sentences for non-violent crimes, thanks to mandatory minimum sentencing laws created in the 1980s during America’s war on drugs.
Angelos may not live long enough to experience freedom again.
His case has haunted the federal judge that put him there.
“I do think about Angelos,” said Paul Cassell, a now-retired federal judge in the Utah circuit. “I sometimes drive near the prison where he’s held, and I think, ‘Gosh he shouldn’t be there. Certainly not as long as I had to send him there. … That wasn’t the right thing to do. The system forced me to do it.”
Back in 2002, Angelos was an aspiring music producer and a father of two young boys living in Salt Lake City. Determined to make it big, he founded his own record company, eventually collaborating with big names like Snoop Dogg.
But Angelos told ABC News he also started dealing pot on the side.
Federal authorities caught wind of Angelos’s dealings and set up three stings, using a criminal informant to buy about $1,000 worth of marijuana from him. There was one critical detail in the case – during the deals, the criminal informant claimed Angelos had a gun.
The case went to federal court and Angelos was convicted in federal court of selling narcotics while in possession of a firearm.
These offenses fall under mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and prosecutors treated each of the three marijuana deals as its own individual offense. This is called “stacking” the charges. It means Angelos was facing three prison terms, stacked on top of each other. All in– 55 years in prison, with no possibility of parole.
When Cassell delivered his ruling in the Angelos case, he was quick to point out how severe the sentence seemed compared to violent crimes.
“If he had been an aircraft hijacker, he would have gotten 24 years in prison. If he’s been a terrorist, he would have gotten 20 years in prison. If he was a child rapist, he would have gotten 11 years in prison. And now I’m supposed to give him a 55-year sentence? I mean, that’s just not right,”
More:
Trews
Russell Brand looks at the reactions to Tony Blair’s comments on Radio 4 this week and the news that the Iraq War inquiry may not be published before the next election.
Russell clearly feels that Blair is a war criminal who should be “behind bars.”
The Post Falls, Idaho, Chief of Police says he was very surprised when an arrest warrant landed on his desk earlier this week. The warrant was for a “failure to appear,” not uncommon. But the perpetrator was a nine-year old boy.
TYT Network
Roughly 40% of inmates at jails in New York City are mentally ill…
Majority Report video.
More:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-island-inmate-dies-seizure-article-1.1960280
According to AFP, a raid on the Philippines’ biggest jail on Monday uncovered drug lords “living like kings” in secret luxury cells with strip bars, sex dolls, a jacuzzi and methamphetamines, the justice secretary said.
Police commandos in full battle armor and tracker dogs swooped down on the infamously crowded and corrupt Bilibid prison complex before dawn to verify reports that drug rings were operated from behind bars.
Aside from the methamphetamine “ice”, police found 1.4 million pesos ($31,000) in cash, inflatable sex dolls, a strip bar and a jacuzzi, across 20 air-conditioned “villas”, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.
“They are here to serve jail time but instead, they’re living like kings,” de Lima told reporters after the raid.
OK, Fine. 