Posted on 02/14/2023 6:40:31 PM PST by algore
The family of a mentally ill man who died in police custody claims their loved one froze to death after being restrained and placed in a walk-in freezer for hours.
'This is one of the most appalling cases of jail abuse the country has seen,' the 37-page federal lawsuit filed by the family alleges.
Shocking video of Mitchell being carried out of the jail on January 26 shows the man being dragged and placed into a patrol vehicle before he was later declared dead.
The video allegedly contradicts the sheriff's original statement that Mitchell was having a medical issue but had been 'alert and responsive' when he was taken to the hospital.
The complaint filed by the family alleges hospital staff at Walker Baptist Medical Center spent three hours attempting to resuscitate him before he was declared dead.
According to the physician's statements, the man's cause of death is believed to have been hypothermia.
The doctor also notes the puzzling nature of the death.
'I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72 degrees F, 22 degrees centigrade while someone is incarcerated in jail,' the suit states.
'The cause of his hypothermia is not clear. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. I do believe hypothermia was the ultimate cause of death,' it continues.
Lawyers for the family had similar questions to the doctor, asking how he would have frozen inside the jail.
'How does a man literally freeze to death while incarcerated in a modern, climate-controlled jail, in the custody and care of corrections officers?' the lawyers asked.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Man, aint't that the truth! I've seen some of these guys fully decked out in their body armor and super hero utility belts and it is a joke. They are squeezed into them like pork into sausage, with all kinds of cables and clips and doodads hanging off them as they waddle into the doughnut shop.
They wanted him to chill out?
Walker County. Explains a lot…
Lately more often than not I find myself disgusted with this country.
Crap! He’s black! ..its gonna hit the fan!
Throwing a prisoner into the jailhouse freezer will become a criminal offense when the guards do it to a black prisoner.
You might save a black prisoner if you found this lot of bastards guilty of murder, i.e. Tony Timpa preceded George Floyd and Kelly Thomas preceded Tyre Nichols, but a known black man dead is so much more useful than anonymous black men spared.
He didn’t freeze to death - he was murdered.
The officers that captured him may not be the ones that caused his death. Not sure. The guy was a nutcase.
Orig arrest story:
Mitchell was initially arrested on January 13 after his family members had called police, reporting his erratic behavior. When deputies arrived, they found Mitchell in the front yard and said he immediately pulled out a handgun and fired at least one shot at them.
The man ran off into nearby woods and was hiding in a shed when they tracked him down.
It’s a pretty horrible way to die. Someone needs to be held accountable.
Mitchell was initially arrested on January 13 after his family members had called police, reporting his erratic behavior.
When deputies arrived, they found Mitchell in the front yard and said he immediately pulled out a handgun and fired at least one shot at them.
The man ran off into nearby woods and was hiding in a shed when they tracked him down.
‘This situation could have ended much differently if it weren’t for the constant training of our department, incredible work by our dispatchers, assistance from other agencies, and the quick help of District Attorney Bill Adair’s Office,’ law enforcement said in a post on Facebook.
‘Thankfully, the day ended with everyone safe,’ the post continued.
Interesting
A guard has been fired for leaking the video that shows Mitchell being taken unresonsive to the sherriff’s vehicle and proving that officials lied about him being conscious and talking.
Mitchell was apparently kept in a concrete cell for two weeks, no bedding and thin clothing only. That is enough to cause hypothermia, the concrete pulls the heat out of the body. A person in hypothermia tends not to stabilize without intervention, becoming more confused, less responsive, less able to care for himself, may even strip off his clothing in the last stages.
I once had a schizophrenic, deeply hypothermic, unresponsive patient. His family was at the end of their ability to cope, they left him in a basement without checking on him for 36 hours. One of the two most distressing cases I had as an EMT.
The county chief commissioner and the treasurer had better lready figuring what is the highest amount of a straight up cash settlement they can be prepared to offer the family to keep the civil case of ever getting before a jury. This makes the Memphis P D appear to be candidates for a ACLU award.
‘Thankfully, the day ended with everyone safe,’
Almost everyone anyways
Folks, they fired the female deputy who released the recordings of the man that was killed. If she hadn’t released them, this awful story may have never come to light.
I give no credit to the police officers. No human should be treated in such a manner, especially when the family had only called the LEO’s for assistance with a mentally ill family member. A mental illness, may I add, that has probably been caused be the government and medical money-making machines that constantly pour mind altering drugs into people who just want a little relief from the oppression of our government officials.
“There is nothing so bad that calling the cops can’t make worse”! That’s a saying that is becoming true more and more these days!
Why does a jail have a walk-in freezer?
The Cooler is just a slang term, not supposed to be literal.
“You might save a black prisoner if you found this lot of bastards guilty of murder, i.e. Tony Timpa preceded George Floyd and Kelly Thomas preceded Tyre Nichols...”
Yeah, you make good points. I always say that one of the biggest myths in America is that the cops treat white people better than they treat black people. They should ask some white people about that.
Not anti-cop by any means, but some things are not acceptable. And making yourself judge, jury, etc. is most of them.
That is Walker County, Alabama. I grew up there. That county has no money to give.
It appears to be more prosperous due to the interstate commerce corridor. They will need it.
Who ever fire the guard needs to be fire immediately. The guard needs to be reinstated. And it sounds like some people need to go down for murder.
Prison time, my hairy purple donkey. This looks, sounds and smells like premeditated murder. Death Penalty.
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