Elliott Williams was not even arraigned, and was picked up for a misdemeanor. It became a death sentence. Although Williams had repeatedly announced, for over four days, to numerous jail staff, that he was paralyzed, could not move, could not get up, and was thirsty, and while he had not eaten, had water, or moved from the position to which he was dragged more than 36 hours before, a nurse only recorded that she ‘encouraged (Williams) to inform staff of needs or concerns.’”
Williams death occurred more than five days after being detained for a misdemeanor for which he was never even arraigned. Again, the failure to provide mental health care and the attitude that some people do not matter is not only seen in Massachusetts. It is not only those in treatment on Long Island who are seen as discardable.
Not even basic care is being provided to the mentally ill. This one case highlights the problems. I had a client die of malignant melanoma while I fought to get her medical care in Framingham. Representing the indigent is some of the hardest work there is, and the posturing of the political class just doesn’t hold my interest in comparison.
“Although Williams had repeatedly announced, for over four days, to numerous jail staff, that he was paralyzed, could not move, could not get up, and was thirsty, and while he had not eaten, had water, or moved from the position to which he was dragged more than 36 hours before, a nurse only recorded that she ‘encouraged (Williams) to inform staff of needs or concerns.’”
Williams death occurred more than five days after being detained for a misdemeanor for which he was never even arraigned. Take a look again.
Dowdell’s order denied motions by the defendants — Sheriff Vic Regalado and former Sheriff Stanley Glanz — to dismiss the suit. The judge also ruled that jail videos depicting Williams are admissible in the case, as are prior reviews or audits that found problems in the jail.
Dowdell’s 55 page ruling includes a blunt condemnation of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office jail staff for failing to help Williams. (An autopsy found he died from complications of a broken neck and noted he was seriously dehydrated.)
“A significant number of jail staff were aware that Mr. Williams did not walk, stand, sit up, eat, or drink on his own for days,” Dowdell’s ruling states.
Attorney Dan Smolen, who represents Williams’ family, said Dowdell’s ruling Wednesday was powerful but not surprising, given the facts of the case.
“It’s rare that you have a set of facts that would dictate such a an emotional response. … It’s one of the very few cases that shows what I would consider to be complete inhumanity,” Smolen said.
DYLAN GOFORTH/The Frontier
“I don’t think anyone can objectively look at the facts — no matter what your religion, what your race — and argue that the way that this guy was treated was appropriate.”
Smolen noted that no one has been held accountable for Williams’ death, despite an OSBI investigation and some interest by the U.S. Department of Justice. He hopes Wednesday’s ruling prompts a federal investigation of Williams’ death.
Clark Brewster, the county’s attorney in this case and numerous similar cases, said in an email to The Frontier that Dowdell “at this stage, as a legal standard must assume the facts alleged by the plaintiff as true.”
“The ruling is solely based on legal sufficiency and it is rare that any court will dismiss a case, even those that are clearly frivolous. … We trust that a jury in this case will carefully exercise their duty after a trial where the county will be zealously defended.”
The Williams case is one of at least a dozen civil rights lawsuits against the county for deaths and serious injuries in the jail. Verdicts against the county in the Williams case, or any of the other suits, could cost county taxpayers millions.
Earlier this year, a jury found against the county, ruling that the Sheriff’s Office deliberately indifferent, in the first of these cases to reach trial stage.
Smolen noted Wednesday that Tulsa County commissioners and Regalado are ultimately responsible for the outcome in Williams’ case and the other jail lawsuits. The commissioners have said little publicly about their role in overseeing the quality of medical care at the jail.
“You can refuse to acknowledge what’s happening and people are going to die but it’s going to catch up with you,” he said.
Glanz and the county have denied liability in Williams’ case, saying if failures existed, they did not rise to the level of “deliberate indifference” that the plaintiffs are required to prove.
Though Glanz is no longer sheriff, Dowdell’s ruling leaves him as an individual defendant in the lawsuit. Regalado, and by extension the county, is the “official capacity” defendant.
The plaintiffs have already settled with the jail’s former medical provider, Correctional Healthcare Companies Inc., based in Nashville, for an undisclosed amount.
CHC was sold to Correct Care Solutions Inc., of Nashville, in 2014. Correct Care Solutions is one of several companies bidding on a new jail medical contract, worth about $5 million per year.
It’s unclear why the contract is being put out for bids now, because the county commissioners voted to renew the current contract with Armor Correctional Health Services Inc. just last month.
Mental breakdown, then arrest
Dowdell’s ruling recounts the history of Williams’ case and many points along the way his death might have been prevented.
On Oct. 21, 2011, Williams’ relatives took him to an Owasso hotel “because Elliott had not slept in days and was having psychological issues,” the ruling states. A breakup with his wife had left Williams despondent and he caused a disturbance in the hotel lobby.
Owasso police responded and the situation escalated. Williams, who relatives said had been diagnosed as bipolar in the military, said he wanted to die and did not comply with officers’ commands to sit down.
Rather than wait for a mobile mental health unit to arrive, Owasso police pepper sprayed Williams and took him to the city jail. Once there, Williams descended further into psychosis, hiding under a bench, taking off his clothes and barking like a dog.
Though inpatient beds are often scarce, Owasso police did not attempt to find a mental health facility that would take Williams. Instead, they decided they couldn’t handle Williams and took him to the Tulsa Jail, booking him in at 1:50 a.m. Oct. 22, 2011.
When Williams failed to cooperate at the jail, Owasso officers threw him to the floor, with one officer landing on top of him. After that takedown, Williams had difficulty walking, though wasn’t yet saying he was paralyzed.
