Another Death at Onondaga County Justice Center Rodney
Brown
In June of this year, 21-year-old Chuniece Patterson was found dead in her cell from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. After an investigation was conducted, The New York State Commission of Corrections (NYSCC) reported, "If Patterson received adequate and competent medical care her death would have been prevented." The investigation also unveiled that two nurses and one deputy, "Provided grossly and flagrantly negligent and incompetent nursing care to inmate Patterson in that she completely misinterpreted and minimize the significance of pain and vomiting at this juncture." The nurse's shift log show Patterson complained about excruciating pain in the abdomen over a period of two days before her death. Earlier this week, Raul Pinet Jr. (31) was found dead in a holding cell at the Justice Center with the cause of death still unknown. According to authorities, Pinet was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest. Ironically, he was arrested and booked after, he instructed a friend to call 911. Elizabeth Ortiz of 305 Shonnard St. said, Pinet knocked on her door and asked for help, when officers arrived from the Syracuse Police Department, he was arrested. Ortiz noted, Pinet resisted arrest and the officers had to struggle to put him in handcuffs. When Pinet and officers arrived at the Justice Center, Sheriff Kevin Walsh stated, Pinet refused to exit the van and became combative. "Restraining bands were put on, so he could be carried to the booking area," Walsh said. "Shortly after being placed in a rubber insulated holding cell he was found dead." Attorney Janet Izzo of Syracuse was hired by the Pinet family. "Clearly there's a concern in regards to how he was placed in the Justice Center holding area?" Izzo said. "It's against policy if he was still restrained and placed on his belly where he was unable to vomit and asphyxiation could occur. Clearly it's a situation that needs to be investigated. Izzo noted it was still too early to establish anything surrounding the case as factual. "There's no solid information at this point," she said. Izzo was also hired by the Patterson family to litigate a "wrongful death lawsuit" against the County on behalf of Chuniece Patterson. "As the NYSCC reported, Chuniece wouldn't have lost her life if standard medical procedures were followed," Izzo said. "Either the mandated standard medical procedures for nurses and correctional deputies are not part of the Justice Center policies or the nurses and deputies are not following them." After the results from the investigation were released, the nurse on duty at the time of Patterson death resigned or quit. Colleen Clancy who supervised the nurses at the Justice Center also resigned. Local NAACP President, Preston Fagan has been calling for the reopening of Syracuse/Onondaga County Human Rights Commission after the death of Patterson. Patterson argued the Commission is still needed to facilitate communication between public officials and constituents. In our June 2010 Publication Fagan stated, "If the Human Rights Commission was still active, the organization could have played a major role in the unfortunate death but preventable death of Patterson. As an active liaison in the community, the Commission would have sufficient access with important public officials in order to thoroughly investigate serious and grave issues, such as the questions that surround the Patterson case," he said. Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Jim Rhinehart said the Human Rights Commission was defunded along with many other programs to cut spending cost in order to close a 50 million dollar deficit in the County's budget. "The Human Rights Commission protected the civil rights of residents," Fagan said. "That important fact alone should have kept, the Commission open." Izzo noted the Justice Center has an historical pattern of inmates dying while in their custody. She pointed out a case concerning Lucinda Betts, -sister of Hollywood actor Ving Rhames who died while in custody of the Justice Center nearly 15 years ago. "The Justice Center have been instructed more than once over the years to began taking steps to prevent deaths from occurring under their watch," Izzo said. "The wrongful death lawsuit filed is not solely about monetary compensation. We want to make sure the Justice Center employees began to follow the mandated standard medical procedures because apparently they're not getting it down there." In response to the question- Is there a racial component at work in the deaths of Pinet and Patterson? Izzo stated, she hasn't heard or seen anything that would suggest or indicate they were treated differently because of their race but there's a pattern of suspicion. "Can I point, - I can't," she said. "I don't know how often you can." In regards to Pinet's death Sheriff Walsh stated, "Looking at what we seen so far, the interviews with deputies involved, the preliminary medical reports from the nurse on the scene, it appears all procedures were properly followed." "Obviously
there's an overriding importance here," Izzo said. "Don't matter what
these folks have done to bring them to the Justice Center -these people didn't
deserve to be subjected to long, slow deaths." |