An avoidable death in police custody?
An obviously inebriated 36-year-old man was found in a helpless condition on a pavement. When he was brought to a police station, a doctor certified the individual to be fit to be held in custody. He was unresponsive when the officers tried to wake him the next morning but was allowed to sleep on until he was found dead in his cell at mid day. An autopsy revealed as cause of death an epidural hematoma and cerebral contusion with fracture of the calvarium. The expert report stressed the point that the monitoring of the state of consciousness had been objectively insufficient throughout the entire time period, both in terms of frequency as well as in terms of the monitoring methods. However, neither the police officers involved nor the doctor, was subjected to prosecution mainly because of the high burden of proof required by German criminal law. The article will discuss conclusions for the avoidance of such deaths (such as training of police officers, legal regulations on monitoring procedures, etc).
Heide
Steffen
S
Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Franzosenweg 1, Halle/Saale, Germany. steffen.heide@medizin.uni-halle.de
Henn
Veronique
V
Kleiber
Manfred
M
Dressler
Jan
J
D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006407:Hematoma, Epidural, Cranial / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000378:metabolism; D016495:Police; D011329:Prisoners; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000473:pathology; D014754:Violence
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D019007:P-Selectin; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D000431:Ethanol