Posted on 01/17/2023 2:08:52 PM PST by nickcarraway
Plus: Court reminds cops they can't pull people over just to flirt, salary range laws aren't working as planned, and more...
Arrested for pointing his fingers at police in a threatening manner, Arkansas man Larry Eugene Price Jr. wound up in jail for more than a year without being convicted and eventually died of malnutrition and dehydration behind bars.
The story highlights a host of problems with our criminal justice system: trumped-up charges; long periods of imprisonment prior to being convicted; and the negligence and mistreatment of people who experience health problems while incarcerated.
"Price was arrested in August 2020 after he walked into Fort Smith Police Department and threatened officers while pointing his finger as if her [sic] were pulling an imaginary trigger," reports Fox News. "Price, who also had a developmental disability, was homeless at the time of his arrest."
He was charged with making terroristic threats and placed in the Sebastian County jail as he awaited trial—where he remained for more than a year. Bail was set at $1,000, which he couldn't afford.
In jail, Price refused to take his psychiatric meds and his condition worsened, according to his family, who have filed a federal lawsuit against Sebastian County and its jail medical provider Turn Key Health Clinics.
Their complaint states that Price was a "severely mentally ill man" who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had an IQ below 55. "It was not uncommon for him to suffer from bouts of psychosis and to completely lose touch with reality."
In jail, Price was placed in solitary confinement, the lawsuit says. He began refusing food and water, too, and his weight eventually dropped from 185 pounds to 90 pounds.
"Larry Price suffered in the tortured throes of his untreated mental disorder for months on end as jail healthcare and security staff watched him waste away—apathetic to his life-threatening medical and mental health needs and to the cruelty of his confinement," says the family's lawsuit. It accuses Sebastian County and Turn Key Health Clinics of "deliberate indifference and neglect" and Sebastian County Jail of "systemic deficiencies" in its policies and practices.
In August 2021, Price died from dehydration and malnutrition. He was found dead in a pool of standing water and urine.
"The county places a high priority on the safety of every person in our jail. We have medical personnel available to treat inmates in need of care," Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz told Fox News in an email. "The sheriff is conducting an internal review of this situation and hope to know more in the future."
County Sheriff Hobe Runion said in a video statement that an autopsy showed Price weighed 120 pounds at the time of his death, not 90 pounds. "Let me make one point clear: the jail staff gave this inmate plenty of food and water every day," he said, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "The jail medical staff were in regular contact with him. The autopsy said the inmate died with COVID."
But just because staff gave Price "plenty of food and water," it doesn't mean that he was consuming it. A county medical examiner ruled Price's death as being caused by acute dehydration and malnutrition, with COVID-19 as a contributing factor.
Disturbing pictures included in the family's complaint show Price looking emaciated and skeletal.
The family's complaint alleges that the county should have done more to address Price's mental health issues and behavior, which included not only eating and drinking less food and water but also consuming his own feces and urine. It also notes that at the time of Price's death, "the medical examiner observed the profoundly shrivelled (or pruned) condition of the soles of Mr. Price's feet." This "grotesquely wilted skin was caused by 'prolonged moisture exposure' from the pool of contaminated water on the concrete floor and bunk of his solitary confinement cell."
FREE MINDS
Court reminds police they can't pull people over just to flirt. From a recent decision of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals:
Today we confront whether the law clearly established that Defendant Utah Highway Patrolman Blaine Robbins violated Heather Leyva's ("Leyva") Fourteenth and Fourth Amendment rights by pulling her over without reasonable suspicion to do so and by sending her flirtatious texts about the administration of a commercial towing relationship between her employer and the Utah Highway Patrol. In doing so, we consider the unique relationship between Defendant and Leyva in the context of each alleged constitutional violation.
Tim Cushing at Techdirt has more details:
Heather Leyva and the patrolman interacted frequently. Leyva worked for West Coast Towing (WCT), one of three companies in the Highway Patrol's Heavy Duty Towing Rotation (HDTR). Leyva was the contact for the towing company and Patrolman Robbins managed the towing rotation. As the court notes, the relationship eventually evolved from a professional one to a personal one.
But it appears the patrolman thought there was a lot more going on than there was. What he saw as reciprocation was actually Leyva trying to preserve the professional relationship that made money for the towing company she worked for. […] Leyva was also pressured by West Coast Towing to resolve what it believed to be unfair assignments that appeared to favor the other two companies in the rotation. Patrolman Blaine insisted nothing was being handled unfairly. The two continued to contact each other, with the patrolman handling most of the flirting duties.
Then things got weird and stalker-ish.
From the 10th Circuit:
A couple of months after working with each other and after the relationship started to change, Defendant texted Leyva one night around 5:00 p.m. He asked about work-related matters. In response to one question, Leyva told Defendant to "standby" because she was on the freeway. Defendant asked where and said he would pull her over. Defendant now insists this was a joke. Levya told him the milemarker number as she passed it. Defendant asked where she was going. Leyva told him and said she would return in twenty minutes. Based on Plaintiff's response, Defendant said, "I'll be waiting 285. You in the what [sic] car. White car." Leyva never responded.
Two hours later, Leyva was driving home in a different car at a different location. Defendant spotted her, turned on his lights, and initiated an apparent traffic stop. Leyva pulled over, not knowing Defendant was the driver of the patrol car, and got her identification ready. Defendant said, "I don't need to see that, just seeing you is enough." Defendant claims he pulled Leyva over as "a joke between friends." They spoke for a short time and then went their separate ways.
A lower court absolved Blaine because of qualified immunity, but the 10th Circuit sent it back for reconsideration (whole decision here). "Because Defendant pulled Leyva over without at least an articulable suspicion of a violation, we conclude that Defendant violated Leyva's clearly established Fourth Amendment right to be free from an unreasonable seizure," the appeals court concluded.
I mean, this is kind of a specious argument.
A cop isn’t supposed to make an arrest before a crime is committed. And, if you count the crimes the criminal would have committed if not arrested and jailed, then, yes, a cop prevents crimes.
But I wouldn’t bet on the percentage.
Your statement is not far off the mark.
I’m generally pro-law enforcement. However, I have noticed one thing about cops and it’s a question I’d like to ask...
“So tell me, Officer. In junior high and high school, were you one of the bullies or were you one of those who were bullied. I ask this because it seems like a number of officers view their job as an opportunity to go on post high school bullying and other view it as a way to make up for the times they were bullied. Which one is it?”
Similar thing happened here locally. Guy was acting up while at a local nut house, and they called the cops, who ended up taking him to jail because he warrants for outstanding misdemeanors. He ended dying 8 days later.
You might ask the same questions about the Jan. 6 prisoners.
“Which one is it?”
I had not thought of that angle. It could be that both of us are correct.
Lemme see if I got this straight...
He was found dead in a pool of stagnant water and piss, death ruled due to malnutrition and dehydration, and this judge stands in front of the press and says safety and medical care of inmates is a top priority???
That asshole needs to be flogged in public..
He should have run against Hank Johnson (Mr. “Guam will tip over”) for Congress.
He’s clearly more qualified.
Assuming the article about Price is accurate, and that’s a big assumption these days, Mr. Price’s family will prevail for the following reasons in my opinion:
1. He’s black.
2. major weight loss is hard evidence hard to refute
3. found dead laying in urine and water; hard to refute
4. low IQ; hard to refute
5. from the sound of the article, a REAL M.D. never examined him; since the man died, that’s a killer.
6. Medical Examiner sounds biased in favor of the state
The county might as well get their checkbook out.
“If this story is true, then he should have been transferred to a mental hospital — he would have been unable to be tried because he was psychotic schizophrenic so I don’t see the point in keeping him in jail.
OTOH, this could be just family members setting up a lawsuit and the press eagerly amplifying any anti-LEO story.”
The brother wants money. Where was he when his brother needed help.
WOW! That's in the Joe Biden/ Kamala Harris range! He probably needed assistance in breathing.
That's funny.
You know less than nothing about LEOs, and the scenario you spell out has never happened to me in the 20-someodd years of service I've accumulated, or the hundreds of officers I work with.
What animates people to put their lives on the line in order to help complete strangers, is because they have goodness and love in their hearts.
That kind of makes you an awful person and a coward.
Apparently they are quacks. The guy lost 100 pounds and nobody noticed. He lived in pools of water and urine and nobody noticed. He didn't eat his food and nobody noticed the full trays being returned? He had a very low IQ and nobody cared enough to check up on him. Just put him in solitary and no care about what this would do to an already fragile mental state.
I understand that there are a lot of inmates who are intentionally troublesome, erratic, etc at that may annoy the guards to the point of just writing the inmates off. But these guards can't just be allowed to clock in and clock out without doing basic welfare checks.
“Those poor Jan.6 victims rotting in prison and especially in solitary confinement didn’t even get to see their lawyers in some cases and had no proper handling or “speedy trial.”
They also DO NOT get media stories written about them or their plight.
“Arrested for pointing his fingers at police in a threatening manner...”
There is nothing more stupid than that. You cannot be terrorized by someone pointing their finger at you!!!
Pictures and more information here. Horrendous story.
I saw all the love and concern the cops showed for Trump supporters being assaulted after rallies
If this story is true, then he should have been transferred to a mental hospital
= = =
This costs them a lot of money, so they use ‘their own’ mental health provider:
“...Sebastian County and its jail medical provider Turn Key Health Clinics. “
At least he didn’t die homeless
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.