Federal Prison -or- Even A DOG Would've Been Treated Better!

[dales]

Ill. inmate died in agony while pleading for help
By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press Writer

(06-27) 17:36 PDT Pekin, Ill. (AP) --

For days before he died in a federal prison, Adam Montoya pleaded with guards to be taken to a doctor, pressing a panic button in his cell over and over to summon help that never came.

An autopsy concluded that the 36-year-old inmate suffered from no fewer than three serious illnesses — cancer, hepatitis and HIV. The cancer ultimately killed him, causing his spleen to burst. Montoya bled to death internally.

But the coroner and a pathologist were more stunned by another finding: The only medication in his system was a trace of over-the-counter pain reliever.

That means Montoya, imprisoned for a passing counterfeit checks, had been given nothing to ease the excruciating pain that no doubt wracked his body for days or weeks before death.

"He shouldn't have died in agony like that," Coroner Dennis Conover said. "He had been out there long enough that he should have at least died in the hospital."

The FBI recently completed an investigation into Montoya's death and gave its findings to the Justice Department, which is reviewing the case. If federal prosecutors conclude that Montoya's civil rights were violated, they could take action against the prison, its guards, or both. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, saying that the matter was still being investigated.

The coroner said guards should have been aware that something was seriously wrong with the inmate. And outside experts agree that the symptoms of cancer and hepatitis would have been hard to miss: dramatic weight loss, a swollen abdomen, yellow eyes.

During Montoya's final days, he "consistently made requests to the prison for medical attention, and they wouldn't give it to him," said his father, Juan Montoya, who described how his son repeatedly punched the panic button. Three inmates corroborated that account in interviews with The Associated Press.

The younger Montoya was taken to the prison clinic one day for "maybe five, 10 minutes," his father said. "And they gave him Tylenol, and that was it. He suffered a lot."

The federal prison in Pekin will not discuss Montoya's death. Prison spokesman Jay Henderson referred questions to the Bureau of Prisons, which denied an AP request for information on Montoya's medical condition, citing privacy laws.

It isn't clear whether the prison system, relatives or even Montoya himself knew the full extent of his illness. Montoya's father had no idea his son had cancer or hepatitis. Inmates who knew him said he told them he had cancer, but they knew nothing of his HIV.

According to its website, the Bureau of Prisons tries to screen the health of new inmates within 24 hours of their arrival. A closer examination within two weeks is required for prisoners with serious, long-term illnesses. But officials have not said whether Montoya was given any kind of exam or whether his medical records made it to Pekin.

Montoya pleaded guilty in May 2009 to counterfeiting commercial checks, credit cards and gift cards. Prosecutors will not say how much money was involved in the scheme, but Montoya was ordered to pay a little over $2,000 in restitution.

Montoya, who had a history of methamphetamine abuse, was released while awaiting sentencing and was ordered not to use drugs. At the time, he was living with his father and working for his father's process-serving business, which delivers legal documents. His father said he was paying Montoya's bills and paying him about $300 a week.

Then in mid-June, Adam Montoya was diagnosed with HIV.

"It hit him like a ton of bricks," his father said.

After the diagnosis, Montoya retreated back into methamphetamine. Following a urine test, he admitted using the drug three times in a month, and he was locked up.

Montoya began taking antiviral drugs, so his father still had hope and tried to give his son a sense of the same. "I thought, 'You'll get out. You'll get your probation, and you'll have years of life," the elder Montoya said.

In mid-October, Montoya was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. When he arrived at a federal prison transfer center in Oklahoma City, his medication was waiting for him. His father took that to mean that the prison system knew Montoya suffered from HIV.

Montoya arrived at the Pekin prison on Oct. 26. He lived just 18 more days. The inmates around him say he spent much of that time pleading for help from his cell.

Prison staff told Montoya he had the flu, according to Randy Rader, an inmate in the next cell who wrote letters to his mother about Montoya and discussed him in an e-mail interview with the AP.

"That man begged these people for nine days locked behind these doors," Rader wrote to his mother on Nov. 14. The letter was first obtained by The Pekin Daily Times, which wrote about Montoya's death earlier this year.

Rader has since been moved to a prison in California — far from his family in Michigan. He suspects the move was retaliation for speaking out about Montoya.

The last time a staff member visited Montoya, about 10 p.m. on Nov. 12, he reported having trouble breathing and complained that he could no longer feel his fingers, Rader said in the e-mail interview. The staff member told Montoya that he would try to get help the next day.

Around 6:30 a.m., prison officials found Montoya's body in his cell.

The autopsy showed that Montoya's spleen was almost 10 times the normal weight because it had been engulfed by a cancerous tumor, which was on its way to doing the same with his liver.

The pathologist who examined Montoya's body said his eyes were also yellow — an unmistakable sign of hepatitis. Dr. John Ralston is reluctant to speculate whether treatment could have saved Montoya's life by the time he reached Pekin. The doctor suspects he would have needed a liver transplant to have a chance.

That said, "You would think that he would have been feeling bad enough and complaining enough that somebody should have tried to get to the bottom of this," Ralston said.

The AP sought opinions about Montoya's condition from other doctors who did not examine him but were familiar with his diseases. They agreed he probably displayed obvious signs of distress.

Montoya would have had a swollen abdomen because of his spleen. At the same time, he probably was losing weight rapidly because the large tumor would have left little room in his belly for food, according to Dr. Krishna Rao, an assistant professor of oncology at Southern Illinois University Medical School in Springfield.

Someone in Montoya's condition should have been taking heavy doses of chemotherapy for his cancer or receiving stem cell transplants, if he were healthy enough, said Dr. James Egner, an oncologist with the Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign.

If the cancer was too advanced, Montoya should have at least been treated for pain with powerful drugs, possibly in a hospice, Egner said.

The president of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project said it isn't uncommon for medical records not to arrive with a federal inmate.

"Sometimes it arrives late, and sometimes it doesn't happen at all," said David Fathi, who has spent 15 years studying prison conditions. "That's why it's so critical that the new facilities do a medical screening" of new inmates.

Fahti said Montoya's death "is really an egregious failure, of the kind that you wouldn't expect from even a small county jail, let alone the largest prison system in the United States."

After his son's death, Juan Montoya wrote to the prison complaining about its medical care. Warden Richard Rios wrote back to defend his institution.

"I must respectfully disagree with your characterization of the medical care Adam received and want to assure you that we carefully monitored you son's medical condition," wrote Rios, who was not hired for the job until months after the death. He did not elaborate, writing that privacy laws limited what he could say.

The elder Montoya is now waiting for his son's medical records, but he doubts they will offer many clues. The family has hired lawyers but has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

Montoya thinks a lot now about the assurances he offered his son as he headed for prison.

"Your time will go by fast, and you'll get out, and we'll get you a job and be part of the family," Montoya recalls telling his son. "It never happened."

[Scooter]

Whatever prison officials were involved in denying this man access to medical care need to be charged with murder. And while awaiting trial and upon conviction they need to be housed in the same cell block as he was.

[Timster]

Or at the least involuntary manslaughter. And I agree Scooter let the punishment fit the crime.

[Lord Jim]

Absolutely disgusting and inexcusable.

And it's certainly not encouraging that the nimrod who was hired to run the place after this happened had this to say:

"I must respectfully disagree with your characterization of the medical care Adam received and want to assure you that we carefully monitored you son's medical condition," wrote Rios, who was not hired for the job until months after the death.

Apparently total cluelessness is a job requirement for this position. (Maybe applicants are required to pass some sort of test to assure that they have this quality)

It's kind of ironic...

I distinctly remember a few years ago, that someone at the CSB, (I believe it was med....back when he was a radical libertarian objectivist, before he woke up one morning and discovered...like Godfrey Cambridge in The Watermelon Man...that he had suddenly become a leftwing black militant) tried to argue that people who were incarcerated should receive no medical care....

In response, I posited a hypothetical situation where a woman was imprisoned for writing bad checks, and while she was in jail, she discovered a small lump in her breast. I told med that there was no way that I could possibly support any policy that was in effect, going to impose the death penalty on people for writing bad checks.

That appears to be exactly what actually happened in this case....

[Gob]

Death for drunk driving..

POLICE failed to follow correct procedures over the death of an Aboriginal elder, according to Western Australia's top prosecutor.

They also gave key witnesses the opportunity to collaborate over the shocking death of the man, who literally cooked to death in the back of a prison van, according to the prosecutor.

But Director of Public Prosecutions Joe McGrath said while there might be a case for civil negligence surrounding the death of Ward -- whose first name cannot be used for cultural reasons -- there was no basis for criminal charges to be laid.

Mr McGrath said there was no evidence that anyone acted with such "gross negligence" to constitute a criminal offence.

Even if police had followed procedure and separated guards Nina Stokoe and Graham Powell after Ward died, there was no guarantee that charges would have been laid, he said.

"To say that there must be imputations that these two custodians have made it up and I cannot say that -- we just take the evidence as it is."

The DPP's decision has been met with outrage by Ward's family, the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA, that is planning to lodge a complaint with the Corruption and Crime Commission.

Daisy Ward told The Australian there would be more justice for a dog than for her cousin, who died of heatstroke while being transported 360km across the desert in a faulty prison van where temperatures in the back reached about 50C in January 2008.

"The guards were responsible for him and all they did was drive. They had plenty of water, the air-conditioning was working in the front and they were listening to music. In the back was my cousin suffering, getting roasted," Ms Ward said.

West Australian coroner Alastair Hope found the guards, their employer G4S and the Department of Corrective Services, were all responsible for Ward's death.

Mr McGrath said his office had examined whether charges could be laid against all three as well as the police and a justice of the peace who denied Ward bail.

He said in all cases, a prima facie case did not exist for criminal prosecution and even if there had been, there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Sydney criminal barrister John Agius QC gave the DPP an independent opinion that Mr McGrath said had taken the same view. He said the fact the guards did not stop until almost the end of the journey might constitute civil negligence.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said he was "disinclined" to put any conditions prohibiting civil action on an ex-gratia payment being due to be paid in the coming months to Ward's widow Nancy.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/na ... 5885407730

[Jarlaxle]

Both those cases should be murder one, depraved indifference to human life. All involved should be tortured to death over a period of at least a week.

[Scooter]

[pedantic mode]Depraved indifference would actually make it 2nd degree murder[/pedantic mode], but if someone were to be creative and figure out some associated crime they committed that would make it felony murder (murder one) I wouldn't exactly lose any sleep.

[Jarlaxle]

Associated crime? Hmm...how about "torture"?

[Scooter]

Works for me.

[Miles]

Daisy Ward told The Australian there would be more justice for a dog than for her cousin, who died of heatstroke while being transported 360km across the desert in a faulty prison van where temperatures in the back reached about 50C in January 2008.

"The guards were responsible for him and all they did was drive. They had plenty of water, the air-conditioning was working in the front and they were listening to music. In the back was my cousin suffering, getting roasted," Ms Ward said.

If this isn't proof of criminal negligence I must be way too pc.

[Lord Jim]

Sometimes Miles, there are situations that are so indefensible, so "beyond the pale" that nobody, no matter what their position on the political spectrum, can possibly rationalize or excuse what took place.

These two cases are good examples of this. If there's anyone here who would like to try to make the case that the behavior of the authorities in these two examples was somehow acceptable, I would love to see the reasoning.

[BoSoxGal]

One of my first clients at legal aid in Arizona was a guy who wanted to set up a will for his kids, leaving them whatever proceeds might result from a pending case against the State's Department of Corrections.

He had been refused referrals ordered following his initial medical screening upon commencing a 4-month sentence for a DUI; by the time he got out and got the medical care required, he was diagnosed with advanced rectal cancer that would likely have been curable (remission with many more years of life) had the prison provided the proper care 4 months before.

Death sentence for a DUI. Abhorrent!

[Andrew D]

The truly sad thing about this is that it -- including the retaliation against the person who spoke out about it -- is typical. Collectively, we like to brush it off as some aberration. But it is not. It is the sort of thing that happens routinely.

[Jarlaxle]

One of my first clients at legal aid in Arizona was a guy who wanted to set up a will for his kids, leaving them whatever proceeds might result from a pending case against the State's Department of Corrections.

He had been refused referrals ordered following his initial medical screening upon commencing a 4-month sentence for a DUI; by the time he got out and got the medical care required, he was diagnosed with advanced rectal cancer that would likely have been curable (remission with many more years of life) had the prison provided the proper care 4 months before.

Death sentence for a DUI. Abhorrent!

To be brutally honest, I'd be fine with putting down drunk drivers.

[Jarlaxle]

Sometimes Miles, there are situations that are so indefensible, so "beyond the pale" that nobody, no matter what their position on the political spectrum, can possibly rationalize or excuse what took place.

These two cases are good examples of this. If there's anyone here who would like to try to make the case that the behavior of the authorities in these two examples was somehow acceptable, I would love to see the reasoning.

Direct quote from another board: "They shouldn't have given him the Tylenol. I hope they made him pay for it and I hope he died in agony." This guy was absolutely serious.

[Timster]

Really? Wow! Well fuck them too. I hope that they [Or their family member...ED.] have the opportunity to experience this so called "Justice."

I take that back. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. People really Suck sometimes.

*Spit!*

[Jarlaxle]

That was about par for this lunatic...this is the same guy who says pot smokers shouldn't be arrested...they should be shot on the spot. The problem: he is absolutely dead serious.

[Lord Jim]

To be brutally honest, I'd be fine with putting down drunk drivers.

Now Jarl, ol' buddy, think about that for a moment....

Do you seriously want to put to death every person who has ever driven with a BAC reading higher than .08, (which is the legal standard for "under the influence" in most states today)

We'll have to kill off more people than Joe Stalin....

I don't know you personally, but I suspect that if you drink at all, you may have fallen into that category once or twice yourself...

I know I have....(I was just lucky enough not to have gotten stopped by Johnny Law after these "standards" were been put in place.)

[dales]

It's NOT that , Jim.

Jarl believes he's being victimized because in his line of work he's being held to a higher standard of sobriety.

For Jarl, a reading of greater than .04 BAC is considered a DUI and if I'm not mistaken, the "bottle to throttle" time lapse is 24 hours.

Is it any wonder that he's a little testy on the subject of DUI's Cops, and Drunks?

Find a different line of work, Jarl and drink like the rest of us!

[loCAtek]

What, no one else is surprised there's someone out there more willing to use 'extreme prejudice' than Jarlaxle?