Man jailed for months over $5 theft found dead in cell

[marv2]

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/2...cell/21229066/


A family wants answers about how their son died in jail.

Last week, 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell was found dead in his jail cell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Virginia. According to court documents, he was arrested in April for stealing $5 worth of items from a 7-Eleven and denied bail.




"It's obvious that he did not receive the help that he needed and that's the main issue." Family's attorney
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


Autopsy results are still pending but the master jail officer says Mitchell's death was caused by "natural causes" and there was no sign of injury to his body. His family's attorney told WAVY that Mitchell struggled with mental illness and the family suspects he didn't receive the help he needed.

"I think it's two fold. It's the death of her son obviously but it's also the circumstance surrounding his death. It's obvious that he did not receive the help that he needed and that's the main issue."

Medics at the jail say Mitchell refused to take his medication and officials also confirmed he refused to eat. The Guardian reports Mitchell was supposed to be transferred to a mental health hospital for treatment, but there was no room for him.

Prosecutors are seeking an indictment in the case.

[detmotownguy]

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/2...cell/21229066/


A family wants answers about how their son died in jail.

Last week, 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell was found dead in his jail cell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Virginia. According to court documents, he was arrested in April for stealing $5 worth of items from a 7-Eleven and denied bail.




"It's obvious that he did not receive the help that he needed and that's the main issue." Family's attorney




Autopsy results are still pending but the master jail officer says Mitchell's death was caused by "natural causes" and there was no sign of injury to his body. His family's attorney told WAVY that Mitchell struggled with mental illness and the family suspects he didn't receive the help he needed.

"I think it's two fold. It's the death of her son obviously but it's also the circumstance surrounding his death. It's obvious that he did not receive the help that he needed and that's the main issue."

Medics at the jail say Mitchell refused to take his medication and officials also confirmed he refused to eat. The Guardian reports Mitchell was supposed to be transferred to a mental health hospital for treatment, but there was no room for him.

Prosecutors are seeking an indictment in the case.

Wow for $5....and to think our politicians been stealing from us for years and they all still have jobs. Also, with having other issues they should know better than to admit him to that type of confinement.

[marv2]

Wow for $5....and to think our politicians been stealing from us for years and they all still have jobs. Also, with having other issues they should know better than to admit him to that type of confinement.

It cost them more than that an hour to have him locked up like that. I swear America is a very backwards place sometimes. Condolences to the young man's family.

[Jerry Oz]

Where is the "all lives matter" crowd? Did this one matter? I sat through a week of watching the TV news crew murder and wonder how the media picks who should be considered worthy of our tears. The police killed nearly 90 people this month, some of them unarmed, and none of the deaths appear likely to result in an indictment. When the police start policing themselves, they will have my support.

[skooldem1]

He was not in kept in jail, and denied bail for $5.00.

[Jerry Oz]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/201...heal-mitchell/

Young Black Man Dies In Jail After Allegedly Stealing $5 Worth Of Candy And Soda

BY AVIVA SHEN AUG 29, 2015 10:46AM
Another young black man has died in jail, the Guardian reports, after spending four months in jail without bail for allegedly stealing $5 worth of snacks: a Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake.
Jamycheal Mitchell, 24, had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to his aunt, and was deemed unfit to stand trial after being arrested in Portsmouth, Virginia on April 22. That should have meant he would be transferred to a mental health facility, but the hospital had no beds available. Instead, he ended up in jail.
His family told the Guardian they believed Mitchell starved to death because he was refusing food and medication in the jail. He was found dead in his cell on August 19.
“He was just deteriorating so fast,” Mitchell’s aunt told the Guardian. “I kept calling the jail, but they said they couldn’t transfer him because there were no available beds. So I called Eastern State, too, and people there said they didn’t know anything about the request or not having bed availability.”
The death of Sandra Bland in Texas last month brought to light how poorly mentally unstable people are treated in jails. Her death prompted an investigation into Texas jail safety. But all over the country, jail suicides are unsettlingly common. The rate of jail suicides exceeds that of the general population and even that of the prison population.
The reason for the high rate of deaths in jail is unclear, but it could have to do with lax mental health screening and care — Bland told the jail that she had previously tried to kill herself, yet no red flags were raised. People who have been accused of minor offenses can also end up sitting in jail for months awaiting trial if they can’t afford bail. That process, especially for people unaccustomed to the brutality of prison, can take a serious toll on mental health and exacerbate problems that may not have manifested in daily life. Bland was attempting to get her $5000 bond together when she was found dead in her cell. Kalief Browder killed himself after three years in jail awaiting trial for a crime he didn’t commit because he couldn’t afford the $3000 bail.
It’s become increasingly clear that the criminal justice system is unequipped to handle mental illness and often ends up worsening people’s conditions. Prisons and jails have become the nation’s de facto mental health institutions, as the prison system hosts ten times as many mentally ill people as state hospitals. Most facilities are notoriously abusive, often withholding crucial medication, ignoring clear signs of illness, or punishing erratic behavior with solitary confinement.
Mentally ill people are also very likely to be killed by police, whose instincts when dealing with erratic behavior tend toward deadly force.
Portsmouth, where Mitchell was arrested, has also seen several police shootings recently. The Guardian notes that an officer in the city killed an unarmed 18-year-old the same day Mitchell was arrested. A month earlier, another police officer shot and killed a 29-year-old man after chasing him to his home. It was later revealed that that officer had also killed two other men in 2009.

[marv2]

He was not in kept in jail, and denied bail for $5.00.

He was kept in jail. Didn't you read the article?

[soulster]

He was kept in jail. Didn't you read the article?

That's right. I don't know where skooldem is getting his information, but he is dead wrong. The coroner ruled that he died of natural cause. What 24-year-old dies of natural causes??? The prosecutor even said that someone will be charged in this.

[marv2]

That's right. I don't know where skooldem is getting his information, but he is dead wrong. The coroner ruled that he died of natural cause. What 24-year-old dies of natural causes??? The prosecutor even said that someone will be charged in this.

There is so much wrong with this case, I don't know where to begin. He should have never been jailed over $5 worth of food.

[Jerry Oz]

He should have been taken to a secured medical facility for evaluation instead of jail. By all accounts [[if we can even trust the 'official' version anymore), they had his medication and he refused to take it or eat. So they eagerly obliged a mentally ill prisoner and watched him die instead of giving him the help he needed. I've said before and I'll say again, but who polices the police? They don't snitch on each other. Grand juries refuse to indict them. Even when they do get charged [[like in the Charlotte case), white juries acquit them or tie up the verdict so they walk free.

[RobertZ]

There is so much wrong with this case, I don't know where to begin. He should have never been jailed over $5 worth of food.

Absolutely, and to say he starved himself to death is a bit of a ... reach ...
you don't starve overnight. Jail was not the place for this young man with his health issues.

[soulster]

There is so much wrong with this case, I don't know where to begin. He should have never been jailed over $5 worth of food.

He should never have been arrested! Kick him out of the store, charge him with a misdemeanor, give him a court date...but he should not have been arrested and jailed!

The worst is that this isn't an unusual case. This crap happens all the time.

[skooldem1]

What I was trying to say was that in cases where bail is denied for what may be "a small crime", it is because of other warrants, or criminal past. They didn't deny bail because of $5.00.

[soulster]

What I was trying to say was that in cases where bail is denied for what may be "a small crime", it is because of other warrants, or criminal past. They didn't deny bail because of $5.00.

Do you have some special knowledge of the case that isn't know to the rest of the world? Nothing like what you have suggested has been mentioned or found. The prosecutor hasn't even mentioned anything like it.

Speculation doesn't help in these cases. It's best to stick with the facts. And, did you know say this as if it were a fact?

He was not in kept in jail, and denied bail for $5.00.

[skooldem1]

Yes I said it, and I tried to also clarify.

[soulster]

And, on top of that, why is this not getting reported by the major news agencies? I guess they'd rather be talking about Kanye West.

[Jerry Oz]

It happens more frequently than you think. Thinking that the system somehow works as it is designed is what has led to 800 people being killed by the police this year, many of them unarmed. People hide behind the thin blue line and it attracts more than its fair share of ne'er-do-wells because they know that their union and the police hierarchy will back them to the walls if they step over the limits of propriety. If you don't know the story of Kalief Browder, I encourage you to read it below. These things happen more often than they should. And if you can shrug and not care about it, then you're proof that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2250130

Kalief Browder, Held at Rikers Island for 3 Years Without Trial, Commits Suicide

Kalief Browder was sent to Rikers Island when he was 16 years old, accused of stealing a backpack. Though he never stood trial or was found guilty of any crime, he spent three years at the New York City jail complex, nearly two of them in solitary confinement.


In October 2014, after he was written about in The New Yorker, his case became a symbol of what many saw as a broken criminal justice system. Mayor Bill de Blasio cited the article this spring when he announced an effort to clear the backlogs in state courts and reduce the inmate population at Rikers.


For a while, it appeared Mr. Browder was putting his life back together: He earned a high school equivalency diploma and started community college. But he continued to struggle with life after Rikers.


On Saturday, he committed suicide at his parents’ home in the Bronx.


Jennifer Gonnerman, the author of the article in The New Yorker, said in an interview on Monday that it appeared he was never able to recover from the years he spent locked alone in a cell for 23 hours a day.

Once out of jail, Ms. Gonnerman said, “he almost recreated the conditions of solitary,” shutting himself in his bedroom for long periods. “He was very uncomfortable being around people, especially in large groups,” she said.


Mr. de Blasio’s administration in December did away with solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-olds, citing the damaging effects that prolonged isolation can have on their mental stability.


In a statement released on Monday, the mayor said that “Kalief’s story helped inspire our efforts” at Rikers.


“There is no reason he should have gone through this ordeal,” he added, “and his tragic death is a reminder that we must continue to work each day to provide the mental health services so many New Yorkers need.”


Ms. Gonnerman said she was drawn to Mr. Browder because he was able to speak about what he had been through with unusual insight. She said before he agreed to go public with his story, he insisted on finishing his high school equivalency diploma. “He wanted to show that he had accomplished something before he entered the spotlight,” she said.


In jail he had tried to commit suicide several times. He told Ms. Gonnerman that he was repeatedly beaten by correction officers and fellow inmates, but she said she did not realize the extent of the abuse until she watched security videos showing him being knocked to the ground by an officer and attacked by inmates.


Throughout, he insisted on his innocence, refusing several offers from prosecutors to take a plea deal, including one that would have allowed him to be released immediately.


Ultimately, prosecutors dropped the charges. In the course of the three years Mr. Browder was being held, they lost contact with their only witness.


At the end of the article, Mr. Browder, who was the youngest of seven children and nicknamed Peanut by his family, described being unable to rid himself of the fears that had consumed him in jail. He said he was afraid of being attacked on the subway. And before going to sleep at night, he checked to make sure every window in the house was locked.


There were some good moments in the two years after he was released. An anonymous donor offered to pay his community college tuition. His story attracted the attention of celebrities like Jay Z and Rosie O’Donnell, who invited him onto “The View” and gave him a MacBook Air laptop computer. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, talked about him in campaign speeches. [[Mr. Paul, who is running for president, expressed condolences to Mr. Browder’s family on Twitter on Monday.)


But Mr. Browder’s mental health deteriorated, Ms. Gonnerman said. He became paranoid and last Christmas was hospitalized on a psychiatric ward at Harlem Hospital Center. She wrote in an article on The New Yorker’s website on Sunday that he had thrown out his television because he said he feared it was watching him.


On Saturday, Mr. Browder pushed an air-conditioning unit out of a second-floor window at his parents’ home, wrapped a cord around his neck and, according to Ms. Gonnerman, pushed himself out of the opening feet-first.


His mother heard a noise, according to Ms. Gonnerman, went outside to the backyard and saw that her youngest child had hanged himself.


Mr. Browder was 22 years old.

[arr&bee]

where is the "all lives matter" crowd? Did this one matter? I sat through a week of watching the tv news crew murder and wonder how the media picks who should be considered worthy of our tears. The police killed nearly 90 people this month, some of them unarmed, and none of the deaths appear likely to result in an indictment. When the police start policing themselves, they will have my support.

jerry,we both know that the[black lives matter]croud are nothing but troublemakers,who only care about stirring up trouble and care nothing about the actual issues,this is a tragedy and because this man was poor it's just buisiness as usual.

[soulster]

jerry,we both know that the[black lives matter]croud are nothing but troublemakers,who only care about stirring up trouble and care nothing about the actual issues,this is a tragedy and because this man was poor it's just buisiness as usual.

That's BS, arr&bee! Now, I don't agree with their tactics, but it is a legit movement. They just need organization.

Step away from Fox news and Donald Trump.

[Jerry Oz]

jerry,we both know that the[black lives matter]croud are nothing but troublemakers,who only care about stirring up trouble and care nothing about the actual issues,this is a tragedy and because this man was poor it's just buisiness as usual.

Sorry, but I'm going to strongly disagree with you. If you have a better way to bring attention to the fact that a Black man is eight times more likely to be killed by cops and three times more likely to get a more severe sentence for the SAME conviction, I'd like to know what it is. Politely asking for 151 years hasn't worked.

All that is being asked is that the cops are accountable to the laws they're sworn to uphold. If a cop is permitted to shoot an unarmed man [[not always Black, BTW) and chalk it up to being afraid for his life, then there is something wrong. There was a man shot from 24 feet away a couple of weeks ago. The cop said that he was holding a spoon and he felt threatened by it. If you're okay with that, it's because it hasn't happened to someone that you care about. Yet.

I'm 53 years old and I'm tired of this BS.

[marv2]

jerry,we both know that the[black lives matter]croud are nothing but troublemakers,who only care about stirring up trouble and care nothing about the actual issues,this is a tragedy and because this man was poor it's just buisiness as usual.

JAI, they are a legitimate movement now.

[arr&bee]

Jerry,when i said[buisiness as usual]i meant that to the powers to be this man's life meant little.

[Jerry Oz]

I see. I used to consider myself lucky to have been born too late for the civil rights struggle [[including the water hoses, police dogs, batons, riots, and night riders) and too soon to get caught up in gang culture. Looks like America snapped back into the '40s with a vengeance.

My brother-in-law was killed during a legal intervention of a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend. One of the cops had previously shot a man to death and he and his partner said he shot after his gun was grabbed. The details never made sense, but it was only their words on the incident report. The girl, who called them, was alert when they arrived, but somehow slipped into a coma and never recovered.

I suppose you saw this on the news this evening:


The sheriff is upset that the video leaked, but not that her officers shot a man to death who was raising his hands in surrender.

[soulster]

The sheriff is upset that the video leaked, but not that her officers shot a man to death who was raising his hands in surrender.

There is a second video that is much closer and clearer, but the sheriff won't release it. Watch them take two weeks before they charge anyone, if it doesn't go to a grand jury first.

Lesson: your life ain't worth a damn, especially in Texas!

[marv2]

They simply decided it was time for that man's life to end.

[Jerry Oz]

There is a second video that is much closer and clearer, but the sheriff won't release it. Watch them take two weeks before they charge anyone, if it doesn't go to a grand jury first.

Lesson: your life ain't worth a damn, especially in Texas!

Those two weeks will be spent figuring out why they shouldn't be charged. How I get the same careful consideration of I'm ever being "investigated". If that was anybody but two pigs, that video would be more than enough to convict.

[MotownSteve]

Form today's Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...pisrc=nl_popns

[Jerry Oz]

Form today's Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...pisrc=nl_popns

It's all crazy. Especially if you click some of the links provided. They have no reason to reign in the abuse of power. I saw the police chief of the Louisiana officer who was shot last week mention that Black Lives Matter is resulting in the deaths of police. Curiously, six fewer cops have been shot to death at this point than at the same time last year.