Utah Attorney Plans Wrongful Death Suit Against County Jail
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
More from this issue:
- Affluenza Epidemic Rampant in Our Nation’s Criminal Justice System, by Gary Hunter
- Utah Attorney Plans Wrongful Death Suit Against County Jail
- Double Blind: Preventing Eyewitness Error, by Christopher Moraff
- Arkansas Attorney Sues to Gain Access to Incarcerated Client
- Major Measles Outbreak at Detention Center in Arizona, by Christopher Zoukis
- New Mexico State Court Orders Disclosure of Corizon’s Litigation Records, by Derek Gilna
- University of Texas Researcher Makes Data on In-custody Deaths Comprehensible, by Matthew Clarke
- Chief Federal Judge in D.C. Resigns after Lawsuit Accuses Him of Rape, by Christopher Zoukis
- Michigan Prisoner’s Suicide Under Investigation; Lawsuit Filed, by David Reutter
- Private Prisons in Oklahoma Prove Costly
- Seventh Circuit Affirms Award of $1.00 in Excessive Force Case, by Christopher Zoukis
- Texas Leads the Nation in Exonerations, Costing More than $93 Million, by Christopher Zoukis
- ICE Settles Suit Filed by Immigration Detainees, Pays $405,000 in Attorney Fees, by Derek Gilna
- Three Murders in Alabama Prisons in Ten Days; State Senate Passes Reform Bill
- Perfect Storm of Overcrowding, Violence and Staff Shortages in Tennessee Prisons, by David Reutter
- Three State Supreme Courts Rule on Post-release Issues for Sex Offenders, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit: Request to Revise Supervised Release Conditions was Premature, by Christopher Zoukis
- Washington Supreme Court Strikes Down Legal Financial Obligations Imposed on Indigent or Disabled Defendants Unable to Pay, by Lonnie Burton
- Former LA County Sheriff to Serve Three Years in Prison, by Derek Gilna
- Indiana Court Rules that Correct Conviction Must be Used when Revoking Parole, by Christopher Zoukis
- Probation Revocation for Refusal to Participate in Polygraph Tests Upheld, by Christopher Zoukis
- States Wrestle with Prison Privatization, by Christopher Zoukis
- WA: Prisoners May Not Have Their Incarceration Used Against Them at Child Dependency Proceedings
- $103,000 Settlement Between Colorado Town and ACLU Over “Pay or Serve” Jail Policy, by Matthew Clarke
- Global Tel*Link Agrees to Pay $8.8 Million in Class-action Settlement, by Derek Gilna
- Heroin Overdose Antidote Becoming More Widely Available, Including Behind Bars, by Joe Watson
- DC Circuit Court Reverses Dismissal of Suit Challenging CMU Placement, by Derek Gilna
- DC Circuit Agrees that U.S. Attorney’s Discovery Handbook is Exempt from FOIA, by Derek Gilna
- Kentucky: Disciplinary Proceeding Reversed for Failure to Review Video Footage, by Lonnie Burton
- Two Prisoners Killed in Second Nebraska Prison Riot in Two Years
- Marion County, Indiana Jail Plagued by Prisoner Deaths, Ensuing Lawsuits, by Lonnie Burton
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Grant of Summary Judgment to Illinois Prison Doctors, by Lonnie Burton
- Increasing Number of Cities and States Enact Bail Reform – but is it Enough?, by Joe Watson
- Harvard Law School Report Highlights Ill Effects of Criminal Justice Fees, by Derek Gilna
- New York: Prison College Program Reduces Recidivism, Receives More Funding
- Texas Lawyer Quits with 0-34 Record of Losses in Death Penalty Cases, by Matthew Clarke
- ACLU Report Details Damaging Effects of Solitary Confinement on Disabled Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- Maine State Prison Rescinds Bra-removal Policy for Female Visitors
- AVID Prison Project Report Details Challenges Faced by Disabled Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- PLN Settles Censorship Challenge at Oklahoma Jail for $125,000, by Derek Gilna
- New Report Examines “Treatment Industrial Complex”, by Derek Gilna
- Federal Circuit Reverses Prisoner’s Compensation Award by Court of Federal Claims, by Derek Gilna
- New York Prisoner Attempts to Retire from His Prison Job
- Exploring the Connection Between Brain Injuries and Criminal Behavior, by Christopher Zoukis
- Three-day Denial of Pain Medication Sufficient to Overcome Claim of Qualified Immunity, Eighth Circuit Rules, by Lonnie Burton
- Corporate Cash Helps Fill Indiana Politicians’ Coffers , by Leah Carter, James Benedict, Madison Hogan and Paige Ferguson
- Virginia: Three Face Federal Charges for Fake Legal Services Scheme
- Michigan Prison Plagued by Sewage Problems Despite Repeated Complaints, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- Feds Impound Illegally Imported Execution Drugs in Arizona, Other States, by Joe Watson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- New Reporting System for Prisoner Deaths May Allow for Increased Intervention Opportunities, by Lonnie Burton
- News in Brief
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