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.
Tre Benson
www.JudiciousReform.com
10 July 2003
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