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Newspaper
Stories
Some
of the newspaper articles about Gary Rummer's death that Sheriff Causey
wants you to disbelieve:
1.
News Observer (Raleigh, NC), July 5, 2003 Saturday
2. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), July
5, 2003, Saturday, Editorial;
3. The Associated Press State &
Local Wire, July 4, 2003, Friday
4. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), July
4, 2003, Friday
5. Star-News, July 1, 2003, Tuesday, Editorial;
6. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 27, 2003, Friday, Editorial
7. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 26, 2003, Thursday, Front
Page
8. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 25, 2003, Wednesday, Editorial
9. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 12, 2003, Thursday, Editorial
10. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 11, 2003, Wednesday, Editorial
11. Star-News (wilmington, NC), June 10, 2003, Tuesday, Front
Page
12. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 9, 2003, Monday, Editorial
13. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 8, 2003, Sunday
Front Page
14. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 7, 2003, Saturday, Editorial
15. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 4, 2003, Wednesday
16. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 4, 2003, Wednesday, Editorial
17. The Associated Press State & Local Wire, June
3, 2003, Tuesday,
18. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), June 3, 2003, Tuesday, Front
Page
19. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), May 31, 2003, Saturday
20. Star-News, May 29, 2003, Thursday
21. Star-News (Wilmington NC), May 28, 2003, Wednesday
22. Star-News, May 16, 2003, Friday
23. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), May 6, 2003, Tuesday, Front
Page
24. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), May 3, 2003, Saturday, Front
Page
25. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), April 26, 2003,
Saturday, Front Page
26. Star-News (Wilmington, NC), April 25, 2003,
Friday, Editorial
27. Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), April 23, 2003,
Wednesday, Front Page
28. Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), April 22, 2003,
Tuesday, Front Page
29. Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), April 19, 2003,
Saturday, Front Page
Tyrone Delgado's version
of the events that resulted in Mr. Rummer's death differs radically from
a State Bureau of Investigation report
""He
kept it up, and the deputy said, 'Go get the key. I'm going in there.'
I heard the door fly open and the door slam and then I heard a body slam,"
he said.
Mr. Delgado identified someone other than Deputy Hudson as the law enforcement
official who went into the cell. "
Star
News June 7, 2003
View @ 100%
DEATH REPORT
The Death of
Inmate Report, a document that is to be filed with the State within 5
days of an inmate's death was filed 5 months late. It is a criminal offense
to file the report later than 5 days.
To see a copy
of the report click
here
Inmates
of the County Jail are by-and-large unable to afford bail. Many are not
yet convicted of any crime. Some are only incarcerated for a few hours.
Some are awaiting trial for years. Mr. Rummer failed to perform the 24
hours of community service his DWI conviction and sentencing required
of him. He was taken to the jail. 4 days later he is rushed to the hospital.
Two days after that he was taken off life support.
Dr. Wecht has performed
approximately 14,000 autopsies and has supervised, reviewed or been consulted
on approximately 30,000 additional post-mortem examinations. In addition,
Dr. Wecht frequently appears as a guest on national TV and radio shows
to discuss various medical-legal and scientific subjects, including medical
malpractice; alcohol and drug abuse; the assassinations of President John
F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy; the death of Elvis Presley;
and the O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey cases.
Cyril
H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law
Department
of Justice Website Civil Rights Division
DOJ Website for the Criminal Investgation Unit
Jail
Populations
*
From
1990 to 2002, the number of jail inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents rose
from 163 to 231, New Hanover County's population is over150,000 people.
According to National averages we should have 346 people in our jail system.
We are 50 or so inmates over that. Why is it that the County Commissioners
could not have foreseen the need for a larger jail and acted on it earlier?
Department
of Justice Jail Statistics
Crime
Statistics
*
2001
DOJ INDEX OF CRIME STATISTICS
Our Burglary Rate is
1,797.6 crimes commited per 100,000 in population,
the Washington, DC Metro
Area is 496.4, New York City is 381.1, Oakland is 730.6.
Ours
is 1,797.6
A
woman in
Wilmington is more thanTWICE AS LIKELY to be raped here than in
Washington, DC. OUR RATE is 41.7 per 100,000 and DC is 20.7, NYC is 17.8.
Again, our rate is 41.7!!!
Department
of Justice Crime Statistics
District Attorney John Carriker issued
a Press Release on June 2nd. This was his statement regarding the investigation
into the death of Gary Rummer.
To go to the his Press Release
click
here
OTHER
INMATE DEATHS
SEPT. 1, 2002: Mark Christopher Davis, 35, untried, 'delirium
tremens.' Mr. Davis was committed to the jail at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 29. He
was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at a hospital.
JAN. 27, 2002: Benny James Crumel, 30, untried, ingestion
of cocaine. Mr. Crumel was committed to the jail at 9:50 p.m. Jan. 26.
He was pronounced dead at 2:14 a.m. Jan. 27 at a hospital.
AUG. 5, 2001: Gerry Deon Allen, 36, untried, coronary
thrombosis. Mr. Allen was committed at 1:22 a.m. Aug. 3. He died at an
unspecified time Aug. 5 at the jail.
DEC. 13, 2000: Roger Allen Tyson, 49, untried, coronary
disease-heart attack. Mr. Tyson was committed to the jail at 12:54 a.m.
Nov. 3. He died at 8:47 p.m. Dec. 13 at an unspecified location.
APRIL 15, 1999: James Michael Corbett, 19, untried, suicide
(sheet/hanging). Mr. Corbett was committed to the jail at 10:09 a.m. April
4. He was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. April 15 at the jail.
Go
to read more about Gary Rummer
EMAIL
LINKS
Email
these people and let them know what you think.
District
Attorney's Office
County
Attorney's Office
Commissioners
Chairman
Ted Davis
Bobby
Greer
Julia
Boseman
Bill
Caster
Nancy
Pritchett
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DEPRIVATION
OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW- Tre Benson
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On July 3rd,
Sheriff Sid Causey announced that he has called for a US Department of
Justice investigation into, not only investigating the death of inmate
Gary Rummer, the investigation will cover the entire Jail Services Division
of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff hopes
that the Federal investigation will dismiss the many critics and accusations
of the many cover-up conspiracy theories fed to the public by the over
zealous and disingenuous media. At least that is what he would have you
to believe.
Causey would also want you to believe that he called for the SBI investigation
long before the District Attorney said he did, in the DA’s press
statement on June 2nd, Carriker stated that he was not notified by the
Sheriff’s Office until February 4th of Mr. Rummer’s January
16th death. When asked about this Causey said the District Attorney must
be mistaken because he notified Carriker immediately after Gary Rummer’s
death.
Some more things Sheriff Causey would want you to believe is that even
though an autopsy of the dead inmate’s body, done the day following
Gary Rummer’s death, proved death was caused by “blunt force
trauma” to the head, which was reported to be caused by a violent
altercation with law enforcement officials. Rummer’s death was described
by Sheriff department officials to the family, friends and even to reporters
as being caused by an alcohol related illness. Four months later, after
the Wilmington Star News received a copy of the Official Autopsy Report
in April, the death of Mr. Rummer was called an accidental death, nothing
more, nothing less.
In fact Mr. Causey is asking us to believe a lot of things. In his own
internal investigation Causey mouthpiece, Chief Deputy Parker, reported
to us that everything was just fine, nothing to change in the policy and
procedures of the entire Jail, everything is fine and operating effectively
and efficiently. No violations and certainly no complaints. Perhaps, it
was mentioned in passing, that from now on, the deputies will video record
all activities and events surrounding the transfer of unruly inmates from
one cell to another. This was already an unwritten rule according to Parker.
But as things would go that day, not only did the deputies not remember
to videotape the extraction of Mr. Rummer but the entire video security
monitoring system throughout the entire jail facility was malfunctioning
in coincidence with this event. There is no tape, no evidence to prove
or disprove anything. The machines were simply not working.
Causey does not want you to believe the inmate who testified to a reporter
that he heard a deputy threaten and beat Mr. Rummer prior to the now infamous
Deputy Hudson’s time with inmate Rummer. Apparently a different
deputy had “disciplined” Mr. Rummer prior to Deputy Hudson’s
taking Rummer to the mat, (while handcuffing Rummer, Deputy Hudson tangled
with the inmate and accidentally caused him to fall onto his knees, then
again in the same continuing movement fall again face first onto a 3 inch
thick foam rubber sleeping mat, breaking Rummer’s neck and causing
fatal brain injuries) which was conveniently re-enacted on an edited,
video taped, after-the-fact, version of the event reported to cause Mr.
Rummer’s death. By the way, the inmate who went on record with the
reporter has been transferred from the New Hanover County Jail.
Even the District Attorney wants you to believe the SBI Report is conclusive
in its findings, so much so that not one single piece of evidence can
be found to bring anyone to trial for any criminal wrongdoing related
to the Rummer death. Even though we discovered and presented to District
Attorney Carriker a significant piece of signed and dated evidence clearly
justifying at least one criminal charge that needs to be levied against
the Sheriff’s Office. The Official Death Report of an inmate was
to be filed with the State, in accordance with the North Carolina General
Statues 153A – 225, within 5 days of Mr. Rummer’s death. The
Report was filed on May 19th, 5 months late. This is a direct violation
of the law and a misdemeanor criminal offense, an offense, which can be
punishable by jail time. Carriker has yet to comment on how he intends
to handle this matter. The Sheriff is leaving it up the Federal investigators
to determine how to handle this lapse of proper judgment.
The District Attorney also wants you to believe that the State Medical
Examiner Dr. Aaron Gleckman “is willing to testify” that the
injury resulting in the death of Gary Rummer was caused by an accident
and not by a beating. When nationally renowned pathologist Cyril Wecht
studied the Rummer autopsy report, Wecht stated to a reporter from WECT
that "it's extremely unlikely that these injuries would have been
sustained through a simple fall from a standing position to the floor,
or even with somebody toppling over onto someone during the course of
a minor scuffle." It is reported that State Medical Examiner Dr.
Gleckman tends to agree with the Wecht interpretation. Gleckman was only
asked, by investigators, if it was a possibility, that the fatal injuries
sustained by Mr. Rummer could have been caused by an event identical to,
the carefully reconstructed video account recorded 5 months after the
fact, showing Deputy Hudson on the back of an actor falling in slow motion
onto a mat. Does Gleckman believe it is possible that a fatal injury such
as the one Mr. Rummer sustained, could have come from such a carefully
orchestrated, video taped recreation of such an accidental fall? Yes.
Does he also believe it could have been caused by a more serious and more
violent event? Yes, but he was never asked that by the investigator, was
he? Certainly most of us have witnessed Mike Tyson knock out many a boxing
opponent on TV, or can recall a NFL Sunday football game when blind sided
tackles or hits by blitzing 270 pound linebackers crush quarterbacks to
the hard cold Astroturf, we have also seen the victims of these violent
attacks get up, some more gingerly than others, and live to compete another
day. The District Attorney would want you to believe that a man falls
to his knees then face down onto a 3 inch thick foam filled mat and not
only breaks his neck but causes his brain to bleed so much kills him.
I guess anything is possible. Perhaps when someone does a forensic study
on the amount of force required to break a human being’s C-5 neck
vertebrae and as to what sort of violent impact does it take to cause
the severe brain injury suffered by Mr. Rummer that lead to his death,
then and only then will we be sure of what exactly caused his death.
There are many reasons to doubt the “official story” as put
to the public regarding the death of inmate Gary Rummer. This same doubt
recalls several other “official stories” involving 5 other
deaths that have occurred over the past 4 years during the New Hanover
County Jail’s history. One such death in question involves recent
testimony from a former jailer who directly witnessed the beating and
use of chemical agents against an inmate who was already plagued with
the lung disease Emphysema and a severe case of heart disease. That inmate
also died while in custody of the jail. Why would it be necessary to use
such force against a sickly, unarmed, 6-foot tall, 140 pound man already
behind bars? Where was his medical assistance while he lay choking? Why
do we have a inmate death rate 3 times the State average? These are legitimate
questions needing specific and thorough answers.
Hopefully the US Department of Justice will give us those answers and
more. But don’t get your hopes up. As per a Justice Department’s
statement, they have approximately 12,000 complaints each year to initiate
requests for inquiry, those 12,000 complaints result in approximately
2,500 investigations, of those investigations 80 or so grand juries were
authorized to further the investigation. As you can see there is a slim
chance that the investigation will provide the public with anything more
than another sealed report we will never be allowed to peek at.
What the US Department of Justice will be investigating is the violation
of the New Hanover County Jail’s inmates’ Civil Rights over
the past several years.
They will primarily investigate Section 242 of Title 18 that makes it
a crime for a person acting under the color of any law to willfully deprive
a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws
of the United States.
For the purpose of Section 242, acts under "color of law" include
acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within the their
lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's
lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting
to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties.
Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include
police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as
well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others
who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime
be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap,
familial status or national origin of the victim.
The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term,
or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and
the resulting injury, if any.
As you can see, this is a very serious offense, should a conviction ever
occur. The fact that several inmates died as a result of altercations
with law enforcement officials warrants investigation. The admitted fact
that inmates have suffered from medical misdiagnosis and from other proper
immediate medical treatment is also direct violations of inmates’
civil rights. Perhaps the overcrowding issue that first was brought to
the attention of the County back in ’98 by the NC Prisoners’
Legal Services organization is in direct violation of the law. If so then
not only would the previous sheriffs be in violation but so would the
County Commissioners who allow the overcrowding to continue. The inmate
jail population is still at the intolerably high numbers seen 5 years
ago and is still costing us at least $100,000 a month to place 50-100
of these 400 or so inmates in various locations throughout the State because
we simply do not have the room for them, here in our 209 capacity jail.
When asked, Causey admitted that he felt the commissioners and previous
Sheriff Department administration were to blame for the horrendously dangerous
conditions of the New Hanover County Jail, acknowledging that he felt
as if he inherited the whole situation when he took office in December
and is doing everything within his power to a provide a safe and humane
environment for all the County’s inmates. Certainly the Sheriff
knows that ultimately it is his responsibility. He need look no further
than Black's Law dictionary to look up the legal definition of the term
"deliberate indifference" to understand his own personal liability
in this matter of Mr. Rummer’s death.
We look forward to the day the Sheriff’s Department can open the
new jail facility and move on positively, without controversy. Originally
scheduled to open back in September of 2001, the jail will not be ready
for occupancy until at least January of 2004. Until that time we have
inmates sitting in cramped conditions, dangerous conditions, under staffed
largely by a good group of deputies who themselves take great risks among
violent offenders each and everyday they come to work. However most of
the inmates are not yet convicted of any crime. Many are not charged with
serious offenses. They are citizens who have either found themselves too
poor to bail out or have hope in a system that may or may not have their
best interest in mind. Yes things will get better, we have been promised
this for the past 5 years. And yes inmates will certainly face new and
different problems as we move the jail out deep into the county’s
soggy bottomed woods. But let’s not forget the years and years of
mistreatment and overcrowded conditions as well as the inevitable injustices
suffered by many innocent men and women of our community while in custody
of our County’s Jail and let’s hold our public officials accountable
to the problems that led to the public’s outcry over the tragic
death of Mr. Rummer. It is our responsibility as citizens to question
and hold them accountable. We have to do this before we can move on, before
we can heal, before we can trust again. Don’t you think?
It is not that
we don’t want to believe the Sheriff and District Attorney, we just
want a good reason to do so. Please give us that reason, open your investigation
to the public, hold a public forum so we can all ask questions, address
our concerns with respect and direct honesty. If you don’t believe
how serious this is, just ask a patrol officer, who is on the streets
every night, what it means to his safety and the safety of his fellow
officers to not have the community’s trust and respect as he goes
about his job. Think about how we feel, the citizens who elected you into
office to serve us, and our community’s best interests. Think about
how we feel when we suspect your concerns are more for the protection
of some insurance company’s liability over some potential lawsuit,
rather than the safety and security of our community at large. Help us
to revisit the trust we placed in you on election day and we will remember
it the next time you ask for our vote. Otherwise step aside.
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