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| DOC probe into death could lead to firings |
| By Gloucester County Times |
| Published: 11/10/2003 |
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An independent internal investigation into the events leading up to the April death of N.J. inmate Bernard King will begin soon to determine if the eight officers involved in an altercation with the prisoner violated any corrections department guidelines. Stanley Nunn, director of the Gloucester County Department of Corrections, said disciplinary action -- ranging from counseling to dismissal -- could occur if the investigation finds the officers violated administration policies while trying to restrain King. He died after an altercation with corrections officers. A 23-member county grand jury panel last Thursday declined to file criminal charges in the death of King after three full days of testimony. Nunn said investigators will review the information presented to the grand jury to determine in the corrections officers broke department rules during the altercation with King. Nunn said physical and administrative changes have already been made at the jail since King's death. The cell in which King died and those similar were redesigned to improve visual access to officers in the intake area and booking procedures have already been modified to increase the safety of inmates and officers, Nunn said. On April 8, King, 32, was arrested for allegedly violating a restraining order. The next day, at about 8:40 a.m. in a third-floor inmate pod, King asked a corrections officer about his bail and then became agitated when he couldn't get a pay phone to work. The 300-pound King, who stood 6 feet tall and weighed 300 pounds, allegedly tried to punch the officer. When two other corrections officers came to help handcuff King and get him onto an elevator to take him to the booking area in the jail, the altercation escalated until King was handcuffed and his legs were shackled. King was taken to a holding cell, where officers placed him on a mattress face down with his arms handcuffed behind him, authorities said. About 15 minutes later, a corrections officer found King unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury at 9:50 a.m. County Medical Examiner Dr. Gerald Feigin ruled that King died of "positional asphyxiation," which occurs when the body's physical position interferes with the ability to breathe. Attorney Stanley King, who represents Bernard King's family, said they are considering a civil suit. |
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