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| Lawsuits, Documents Indicate Jail's Problems Before Inmate Death |
| By Associated Press/ Asheville Citizen-Times |
| Published: 01/13/2003 |
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One inmate gouged out an eye in a psychotic fit. Another said he lost part of his foot from an injury left infected. Court and medical records indicate that problems in N.C.'s Cherokee County jail existed years before an inmate slipped into a diabetic coma and died, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Prisoners were allowed only crayons - checked out a color at a time - to write letters to family and attorneys. Jailers reasoned that would stop the graffiti on cell walls. Visits were cut back to 10 minutes a week. Prisoners had to choose whether they would see family or a minister. When prisoners misbehaved, former Sheriff Alan Kilpatrick would shut off the water for days, leaving the toilets overflowing, former jailers, inmates and their attorneys said. Kilpatrick said he would only shut off the water overnight. Christopher Lee Wood died four months ago after his parents begged 911 dispatchers in four separate calls over two hours to send help for their diabetic son, who had been off his medication for two days. Wood had been semiconscious, vomiting and crying out for help, inmates said. He had been arrested on felony possession of stolen goods and marijuana. Wood's family has filed a civil lawsuit against former chief jailer Judy Mason and Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick denied any prisoners were mistreated and said his policies were largely based on security concerns and reaction to inmates' behavior. Six years before the Wood case, Elizabeth Head repeatedly called the jail asking employees to help her son, Ronald Reynolds. Reynolds, 37, was in jail for two years awaiting trial on charges including murder. Reynolds had used a toothbrush to try to gouge out his eyes in 1993. He was delusional, at times psychotic, and had twice been declared incompetent to stand trial for the charge of murder, according to court records and his attorney. Reynolds sued the sheriff's department and the mental health center, alleging jailers did not make the twice-hourly checks on inmates that state law requires. He collected more than $13,000 in a 1999 settlement and is now serving a life sentence for murder in Eastern Correctional Institution. |
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