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Prison Legal News

Utah Attorney Plans Wrongful Death Suit Against County Jail

Loaded on June 9, 2017 published in Prison Legal News June, 2017, page 61
Filed under: Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Medical Neglect/Malpractice. Location: Utah.

Attorney Michael Studebaker announced on February 17, 2017 that he planned to file a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Marion Herrera, a 40-year-old Ogden woman who died after 3½ days in custody at a jail in Weber County, Utah.

Herrera was a heroin addict charged with cashing a $763 forged check. She was booked into the jail on May 18, 2016 and pronounced dead four days later after being found unresponsive in a medical cell. Studebaker said the death certificate provided to the family indicated Herrera’s cause of death was “probable cardiac arrhythmia disturbance due to dehydration due to prolonged [drug] withdrawal.”

Investigative documents obtained by the Standard-Examiner said Herrera’s mother, Patsy Medina, told detectives that her daughter was in “overall poor health” from her $300-a-day drug habit. According to jail medical staff, Herrera had been placed on a liquid diet but received no withdrawal-easing medications.

Studebaker said the county had not responded to a notice of intent to sue he filed last summer, and his open records requests for investigative records had gone unanswered.

“They were negligent,” he declared. “I find it interesting they are going to ignore us.” Herrera should have received more than just a liquid diet, Studebaker added. “There’s this magic thing called medical. They can give her an IV instead of hoping to get her to take it [liquids] or die.” 

 

Source: www.standard.net

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  2. Utah Attorney Plans Wrongful Death Suit Against County Jail
  3. Double Blind: Preventing Eyewitness Error, by Christopher Moraff
  4. Arkansas Attorney Sues to Gain Access to Incarcerated Client
  5. Major Measles Outbreak at Detention Center in Arizona, by Christopher Zoukis
  6. New Mexico State Court Orders Disclosure of Corizon’s Litigation Records, by Derek Gilna
  7. University of Texas Researcher Makes Data on In-custody Deaths Comprehensible, by Matthew Clarke
  8. Chief Federal Judge in D.C. Resigns after Lawsuit Accuses Him of Rape, by Christopher Zoukis
  9. Michigan Prisoner’s Suicide Under Investigation; Lawsuit Filed, by David Reutter
  10. Private Prisons in Oklahoma Prove Costly
  11. Seventh Circuit Affirms Award of $1.00 in Excessive Force Case, by Christopher Zoukis
  12. Texas Leads the Nation in Exonerations, Costing More than $93 Million, by Christopher Zoukis
  13. ICE Settles Suit Filed by Immigration Detainees, Pays $405,000 in Attorney Fees, by Derek Gilna
  14. Three Murders in Alabama Prisons in Ten Days; State Senate Passes Reform Bill
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  16. Three State Supreme Courts Rule on Post-release Issues for Sex Offenders, by Matthew Clarke
  17. Seventh Circuit: Request to Revise Supervised Release Conditions was Premature, by Christopher Zoukis
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  19. Former LA County Sheriff to Serve Three Years in Prison, by Derek Gilna
  20. Indiana Court Rules that Correct Conviction Must be Used when Revoking Parole, by Christopher Zoukis
  21. Probation Revocation for Refusal to Participate in Polygraph Tests Upheld, by Christopher Zoukis
  22. States Wrestle with Prison Privatization, by Christopher Zoukis
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  24. $103,000 Settlement Between Colorado Town and ACLU Over “Pay or Serve” Jail Policy, by Matthew Clarke
  25. Global Tel*Link Agrees to Pay $8.8 Million in Class-action Settlement, by Derek Gilna
  26. Heroin Overdose Antidote Becoming More Widely Available, Including Behind Bars, by Joe Watson
  27. DC Circuit Court Reverses Dismissal of Suit Challenging CMU Placement, by Derek Gilna
  28. DC Circuit Agrees that U.S. Attorney’s Discovery Handbook is Exempt from FOIA, by Derek Gilna
  29. Kentucky: Disciplinary Proceeding Reversed for Failure to Review Video Footage, by Lonnie Burton
  30. Two Prisoners Killed in Second Nebraska Prison Riot in Two Years
  31. Marion County, Indiana Jail Plagued by Prisoner Deaths, Ensuing Lawsuits, by Lonnie Burton
  32. Seventh Circuit Reverses Grant of Summary Judgment to Illinois Prison Doctors, by Lonnie Burton
  33. Increasing Number of Cities and States Enact Bail Reform – but is it Enough?, by Joe Watson
  34. Harvard Law School Report Highlights Ill Effects of Criminal Justice Fees, by Derek Gilna
  35. New York: Prison College Program Reduces Recidivism, Receives More Funding
  36. Texas Lawyer Quits with 0-34 Record of Losses in Death Penalty Cases, by Matthew Clarke
  37. ACLU Report Details Damaging Effects of Solitary Confinement on Disabled Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
  38. Maine State Prison Rescinds Bra-removal Policy for Female Visitors
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  42. Federal Circuit Reverses Prisoner’s Compensation Award by Court of Federal Claims, by Derek Gilna
  43. New York Prisoner Attempts to Retire from His Prison Job
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  45. Three-day Denial of Pain Medication Sufficient to Overcome Claim of Qualified Immunity, Eighth Circuit Rules, by Lonnie Burton
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  50. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  51. New Reporting System for Prisoner Deaths May Allow for Increased Intervention Opportunities, by Lonnie Burton
  52. News in Brief

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