California
$3M awarded after heroin addict dies in jail
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego County must pay $3 million to the family of a heroin addict who died of an asthma attack while detoxing in jail, a federal jury determined.
The California county and two nurses violated Daniel Sisson’s civil rights, jurors found Monday. They specifically faulted the county’s method of checking jail cells and how it trains staff to deal with inmates who are detoxing from drug addiction, U-T San Diego reported .
Sisson’s parents had sued the Sheriff’s Department and the California county in U.S. District Court on various claims, including wrongful death and cruel and unusual punishment.
The 21-year-old was on probation when he was arrested for heroin possession and ordered back to the Vista jail on June 23, 2011, according to court records. He was found dead in his bunk two days later.
A forensic pathology expert testified during trial that Sisson died of an asthma attack caused by the symptoms of heroin withdrawal.
The county’s lawyer, Kevin Kennedy, told jurors that Sisson lied about using drugs when he was booked into jail and refused medical treatment at one point.
The family’s attorney, Christopher Morris, said they hope the verdict will encourage authorities to have “a serious conversation” about updating its policies and procedures for training jail staff and deputies.
“More than anything, the family wants this case to be a catalyst for change,” especially with respect to detoxing inmates, he said.
The county’s counsel said in a statement to the newspaper that it was disappointed in the verdict and would be “evaluating possible next steps with our clients.”
New York
Rivers’ daughter ‘outraged’ by finding of errors
NEW YORK (AP) — Attorneys say Joan Rivers’ daughter is “outraged” by findings that errors were made at a Manhattan clinic where the comedian suffered a fatal complication during a medical procedure.
A statement on behalf of Melissa Rivers says she’ll work to ensure the safety of future patients.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has given Yorkville Endoscopy until Jan. 7 to correct deficiencies to avoid losing Medicare accreditation.
A state report released Monday said the clinic “failed to identify deteriorating vital signs and provide timely intervention.”
Rivers, who was 81, died Sept. 4 of brain damage due to lack of oxygen. She’d stopped breathing during an endoscopy days earlier.
The clinic said it has submitted a plan to state and federal accreditation agencies addressing all issues raised. It said the physicians involved no longer provide services there.
Hawaii
State sues Hawaii County over ban on aerial hunting
HILO, Hawaii (AP) — The state has filed a lawsuit against Hawaii County seeking to exempt state employees or contract hunters from the county’s ordinance banning aerial hunting.
State officials say aerial killing is needed to eradicate feral sheep, goats, swine, cattle and axis deer that harm habitat.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports the lawsuit was filed Thursday in Hilo Circuit Court.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Craig Masuda on Monday said the county hadn’t been served with the lawsuit and he couldn’t comment.
Violations of the county ordinance are punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine.
The lawsuit says the state in December asked County Prosecutor Mitch Roth for an agreement to not prosecute hunters in state-sanctioned aerial animal hunts but that he declined.
Ohio
Lawmaker’s suit alleges racism in political party
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Cleveland state lawmaker filed suit against the Ohio Democratic Party and its outgoing chairman, alleging he was defamed and politically punished for challenging what he saw as institutional racism.
State Rep. John E. Barnes Sr., who is black, filed suit against Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern and the party late Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Redfern announced his resignation on Election Day after Democrats suffered bad losses, including his state House seat.
The lawsuit alleges Barnes faced retribution — in the form of lost committee assignments and a nasty opposition campaign in the Democrats’ spring primary — because he refused to join or work through the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
Messages seeking comment with Redfern and a party spokeswoman were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The filing claims that Barnes was prohibited from dealing directly with Democratic House leaders who were white and that he raised repeated concerns with Redfern, then-House Speaker Armond Budish and others about the system that forced all black lawmakers to speak as a “presumed monolithic block of votes.” Redfern and Budish are white.
“In addition to his desire to be treated as an individual rather than as a racial category, John Barnes was concerned that his reputation could suffer if he were to associate with an organization whose moral compass he found to be troubling,” according to the suit.
Four members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus have been convicted in a wide-ranging investigation involving payday industry lobbyists who sought favor at the Ohio Statehouse. Two went to prison.
In the suit Barnes recounts a Nov. 10, 2010, meeting in which then-black caucus president Sandra Williams — among those later convicted on unrelated charges — telephoned Budish and demanded certain committee assignments and $200,000 in exchange for black lawmakers’ votes. The complaint alleges that when Barnes urged Williams to be careful about tying money to votes, “everyone else in the room was dead silent.”
He says the dispute ultimately came to head in this year’s campaign, when Redfern and the party ran two campaign attacks against him, one claiming Barnes “blocked Medicaid for the poor” and another claiming he “disenfranchised voters.”
Typically, Barnes’ position that the claims in the ads were false would go through the Ohio Elections. Instead, they are laid out in the civil lawsuit, which seeks $25,000 in compensatory damages and $25,000 in punitive damages against the party and Redfern for defaming Barnes’ character and defrauding voters.
