Death Row Inmate Attempts Suicide Hours Before Execution.
 

I like the twist on this. In order to avoid the death penalty, he tries to kill himself. But the prison intervenes to save him, even though he's scheduled to be executed within hours, and now he's alive beyond the execution date. So by trying to kill himself hours before he was supposed to be killed, he saved his own life, which he didn't want to do, but the government wanted to do, because the government wants him dead.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Ohio Death Row Inmate on Suicide Watch After Overdose
Tuesday, March 09, 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials say an Ohio inmate who intentionally overdosed on pills hours before his scheduled execution has returned to prison and is on suicide watch.

Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who admitted taking an overdose of medication prescribed to him, arrived at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown shortly after noon on Tuesday.

Walburn says Reynolds is isolated from other inmates and under constant observation.

Reynolds was treated at a Youngstown hospital after he was found unconscious in his death row cell Sunday night.

The type of drug he used and why it was prescribed aren't being disclosed. How he accumulated the pills is under investigation.

Reynolds' execution for the 1994 murder of his neighbor near Akron has been rescheduled to next week.

Sounds like what McFistpump did as a head coach last season.

Idiots. They should have let him die.

Ow. That made my head hurt.

Is this another Nate Keading joke

It's no fun if they don't squirm awhile...

But enough about my sex life! :rimshot:

Glad he didn't die.
I could just see a "wrongful death" lawsuit coming from his family.
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Yeah I wasn't even thinking of that.Would probably have been the prisons fault for not watching him closely enough.:cuss:

You know, I've always thought they should force those guys to jack off pigs and leave a loaded handgun within reach. It would save the state a lot of money.

this shit is stupid

Pretending to be asleep never worked for me when I was in trouble. I think I did it wrong.

The state just doesn't want him to get the satisfaction to kill himself. If he killed himself then justice would not have been served.

they should have just killed him 15 years ago

He killed someone in 1994 and we are not just getting around to it....what the hell has this world come to. Right after convicted, chop his fucking head off.

Yep.:thumb:
I love the stories or docudramas you see about guys being on death row for 10-25 years.:cuss:

yea and taxpayers got to feed him and give a bed everynight during all those years, there are vets living on the streets freezing and hungry but we will put child molesters and murderers up forever, maybe even give them an education and a free gym. Makes me sick...:mad:

Its' too bad he didn't do it successfully, an hour before he did whatever he did to put himself on death row in the first place...or at least the night he was arrested, to save taxpayer money.

Every cell of every prisoner sentenced to life in prison or death should come equipped with a hanging rope and a stool to jump off. And a little note that says "Feel free to do the taxpayers a favor, one who sucks the penis."

I love the stories or docudramas you see about the guys on death row that were found innocent after serving 10-25 years. :cuss:

This. :clap:

The death penalty is so stupid.

Our justice system isn't good enough to permanent.

Do you like the docudramas of the people released 10-25 years after being released from death throw? Or are those less interesting?

That's exactly what would happen. Nevermind that they probably hated him, they'd sue.
That or he would have ended up in a coma and we would have paid to keep him alive for the next 20 years.

Not true.

I'm completely fascinated by how much people don't know how our legal system works. It's incredible.

This thread needs to go to DC though.

Really, why?

Because it doesn't matter. Lower courts rule based on precedents, as do judges. If any case would come about, it would have been dismissed immediately. You base your judgement on politics that you wish exist, when they don't in court. No court or lawyer would take that case because it would lose, with cost.

Assuming they could find a lawyer to take the case (and they would not), the family would have a difficult time proving liability. AND EVEN IF THEY DID there is no basis for damages. This could be one of those cases where you see a plaintiff's victory with $1 damages awarded.

Okay, you're both wrong. This happens all the time. Families regularly sue prisons for harm done to inmates. There are lawyers who take these cases, by the way. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Prisons are responsible for the custody of inmates. They're responsible for their safety. They don't just put inmates in isolation because they're a danger to other prisoners or c/o's. They put them there often times because they're at risk if phyisical injury. Why? Because if they suffer injury, and the prison didn't do everything to protect them, the prison is liable.
The federal government employs hundreds of attorneys to handle cases by prisoners against the prisons, correctional offiicers and wardens. You both couldn't be more wrong.

It would be a civil case. You would just have to show the prison didn't take proper care. There's no precedent for level of negligence. So, you're telling me that if the prison just left a loaded gun next to the cell and he shot himself, they wouldn't be liable in any way?

Just google: inmate's family sues prison over suicide. There's probably a thousand links.

You really don't know what you are talking about. Suicide is typically charged as a criminal offense. No self respecting lawyer would take that on, because you'd have to prove that the suicide attempt was involuntary.

Obviously blaise has never seen Shawshank

when the inmate is scheduled for execution, it would have the effect of "executing" the damages.

No doubt prisons are responsible for prisoner safety. But that doesn't mean they are liable for every suicide. In this case it looks like the man overdosed on prescription drugs. It is unclear where they came from. So I won't speculate on liability, but it isn't as open and shut as you think.

You are right that prisoners are constantly suing prisons. It is actually kind of joke in the system. Those actions are not taken particularly seriously, and the courts have been rolling back whatever rights those prisoners have had for years. It is also irrelevant to this case.

My point is, to win the plaintiffs would have to show a duty, breach of the duty, causation, and damages. What are the damages for a death row inmate scheduled to die the next day? ZERO. There is not a judge or jury in this country that would award the family any money.

Yes, I actually know exactly what I'm talking about. We were talking about families suing for damages based on a lack of supervision of the inmate. There's a history of prisoners who are held in isolation attempting suicide. The prisons know this, believe me. That's why that don't like keeping prisoners in isolation (or segregation, as some call it). The fact that the prison knows that prisoners in isolation and on death row are more prone to suicide attempts means that they need to take proper care to ensure that the inmates don't have opportunity to attempt suicide.
You're obviously the one that doesn't know what he's talking about. These cases exist, states and the federal government pay on them in and out of court. That is a fact. I really don't know how you could possibly think that saying "no lawyer would take that" means anything. I guess all the thousands of lawyers in the country are doing so well they don't need to sue the states and Fed for money. Not to mention organizations like the Lewisburg Prison Project who bring suits against the prisons all the time.

Can you give me one case study of this?

No lawyer would take THIS case because there are no ****ing damages!! Would you take the case for 30% of $1?

In some wrongful death/negligence cases there are. That is obvious. Stop changing the subject. Some of those suits are meritorious.

The government didn't want to be denied the pleasure of killing him themselves. :D

Well they spend tens of millions of dollars not taking it seriously every year.
You wouldn't have much trouble showing duty or breach of duty. The prison is responsible for the inmate, they allowed him the drugs knowing he was at risk for suicide.
There are plenty of juries that would award money, Would it be tens of millions? No. But there's plenty of cases of juries awarding money for cases that don't seem to warrant it. You can't just say, "No jury would award damages." The prison would probably settle without even going to trial. You'd probably have the prison attorney having to investigate, prepare paperwork, get statements, etc. and they're probably not even the ones that would argue in court. They would probably hand the case to someone else. That's a lot of time and money. If this guy had died, and his family sued, they would get something, and it would be more than $1. The prison would most likely cut them a check. You can't just say, "He was going to die. His life wasn't worth anything" in court. It would sound too callous.

That an inmates family sued for damages?

How am I changing the subject? I initially said the prison would be sued over suicide. They most likely would if his family cared at all. It happens all the time.

One of us was in courtroom 101 today. One of us is just typing some shit into google and mixing that with some seriously skewed pre-conceived notions of the justice system. You seriously don't get it.

Assuming (and this is a very large assumption), that the family could get a lawyer to take the case, and then manage to prove liability. The damages would literally be that the man died one day before he was going to die anyway. If they somehow managed to win a verdict, it would be of the symbolic variety. $1 verdicts happen all the time. And you have a much bigger problem on liability than you think. It isn't worth breaking it down.

Its the same reason that its hard to win medical malpractice cases when the patient was terminally ill. Even when you win, its pyrrhic.

Actually, one of us has quite a bit of knowledge about the legal system inside prisons and knows that these cases happen all the time. I didn't google anything that I wrote. Great, you were in courtroom 101. If you don't think prisons get sued for this regularly, you're wrong, and I don't see any way you can deny that. Like I said, the damages probably wouldn't be great, but it probably wouldn't go to court. I'm almost positive the state would cut his family a check.

Bingo.

Perhaps I'm underestimating your experience (and also probably overestimating mine some). I won't assume any more about your background.

This is where you are changing the subject. Of course prisons get sued regularly. The vast majority of those cases are dismissed almost immediately. That is the "joke" I was referring to. Occasionally, the prisoner wins.

THIS case is not like those other cases. This case has no damages. Even if the plaintiff is right about everything. There is no reason the prison would settle this case. This is exactly the kind of case they would HAVE to fight. This situation is hypothetical, and already Chiefsplanet has basically gotten hysterical over the idea of the not-even-real-so-it-doesn't-even-matter suit. Can you imagine the outrage that flare up over a settlement on this kind of case?

Sued for damages for what? I just don't think you understand the issues before the court. They might sue, but they have to prove so much more than the person committed suicide.

Based on what I've read, there is no basis for suit. Failure to act based on credible information perhaps, but not on prevention.

[QUOTE=verbaljitsu;6591784]Perhaps I'm underestimating your experience (and also probably overestimating mine some). I won't assume any more about your background.





I deleted most of my post because I just don't want to keep debating something that didn't even happen, but I'll just say the family would probably sue, and if you think this would be the most ridiculous sounding case a prison settled you'd be wrong.

You asked me if I knew of a case. I asked you if you're asking me about inmate's families suing for damages. That happens all the time. I'm having a hard time understanding how you could possibly not get that.

ROFL

OTOH there is probably more reality to your post than we would want to think.

This completely reminds me of Catch-22, for those who have read it.

And Rain Man, if you've never read it.... that book would be right up your alley.


WWII and bizarre humor.

Exactly...

However, it was made in passing, I didn't think it would lead to such a heated debate. Lol
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Smart play on his part. The state can't execute a man that isn't mentally sound. So, by attempting suicide, he side steps execution. Oh, and of course he didn't try to actually finish it because he admitted to overdosing on medication.

I worked in a jail, and you can't let anyone die, even if they are on death row. As someone pointed out above, you will be sued.

So, the guy was very clever in getting himself a stay of execution. I don't know how long it will last, but every extra minute is a minute he wouldn't have had otherwise.

Ha!! He tried to say "F U if anybody is going to take my life, it's gonna be ME!", And they said "Wrong"

And the fact that 15 - 20% actually were found to be falsely accused

I'll kill this thread before it gets sent to DC. A mod would probably step in and restore it, though.