DEAD CRIMINALS CAN BE VERY VALUABLE

By Bob Walsh

The formerly great state of California just settled a wrongful death suit in federal court over the demise of Joseph Duran, 35.

Duran became a guest of the state in August of 2013 at Mule Creek State Prison. He died in custody a month later. He had mental health issues and assaulted a correctional officer his first day in custody. He regularly refused to take meds for fear of being poisoned. He breathed thru a stoma in his throat.

One day he decided to hold the food port hostage. That is a move inmates do to be a pain in the ass. They shove their arm thru the port and refuse to remove it, making it impossible to secure the food port and creating a security hazard for anybody who needs to pass by. When Duran refused to play nice he got blasted with OC spray. He subsequently died.

For some reason or other officials were unable to get in touch with his next of kin so his body was cremated and his ashes scattered. They did not know of his death until they were contacted by a Sacramento BEE reporter about his death about four months later. Allegedly it took the BEE reporter less than ten minutes to locate them in an internet search.

Allegedly the custody staff refused to allow medical staff to decontaminate Duran after exposure despite numerous requests to do so. A staff shrink was fired after the incident for leaking info to the BEE about the case. He is suing to get his job back under the whistleblower protection act.

In any event the state settled early in the legal proceedings for $750,000. A large part of Duran’s issues were mental health, allegedly caused in large part by his parents heavy drug use. Also some changes were made in procedure for dealing with OC spray and mentally ill inmates. They are also making changes in how they search for next-of-kin for death notifications. The family says that is what they really wanted, but they are of course very happy to take the money.

This is one of those instances where a lot of people were wrong (including the dead guy) and the taxpayers are footing the bill for it.