A judge is expected to hear oral arguments Friday that will decide whether a lawsuit concerning the 2018 death of a man incarcerated at Garner Correctional Institution will move to trial.
J’Allen Jones was 31 years old and suffering from schizophrenia when he died in Garner Correctional Institution on March 25, 2018, as a result of “sudden death during struggle and restraint with chest compression and pepper spray exposure in person with hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” according to Chief State Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill.
Gill ruled Jones’ manner of death a homicide but in 2019, State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky said an investigation “determined that the circumstances of … Mr. Jones’ death are not criminal in nature.”
Over the last six years, Jones’ former partner and the administrator of his estate, Lynnette Richardson, and Jones’ mother, Jessica Jones, have been fighting for damages in a wrongful death lawsuit.
On Friday at a hearing in Hartford Superior Court, the state will present oral arguments supporting motions for summary judgment and dismissal.
Lawyers representing Jones’ family in the seven-count case against nine DOC employees argue that the “Defendants killed (Jones) through a combination of physical beatings, prolonged exposure to the chemical agent, pepper spray …. use of a dangerous prone restraint technique known to be potentially lethal, and a failure to respond to (Jones’) medical needs,” according to court documents.
They claim that after Jones became unconscious, “the Defendants waited 7 minutes and 16 seconds before starting lifesaving measures.”
Lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office representing the DOC employees argue that the “Plaintiff’s claim for deliberate indifference to medical and mental health needs fail as a matter of law.”
Video evidence documenting Jones’ last moments in Garner Correctional Institution has been sealed through a protective order since 2019.
Attorney Ron Murphy said Jones’ family wants the recording released.
“Given that the case is currently pending in court, I think it would be best if I not make any comment, but believe me, there are lots of things I would like to say about this situation because I don’t think it’s appropriate that the tape can’t be seen by the public,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Jones’ family is seeking “adequate compensation” for Jones’ son, but they also “want to make sure nothing like this ever happens again at the Department of Corrections.”
Screenshots from the 52-minute recording, which were included in an investigative report prepared by Captain Robert Hartnett for the DOC in 2019, show Jones naked and bound, with a spit mask covering his head as correctional officers hold him down onto a bed during a strip search.
According to the report’s time-stamped descriptions of the video, “Jones appears to take a labored breath” at the 20-minute 27-second mark — it is the last time report that makes note of Jones’ breathing.
At 22:03, the report describes correctional officers as “struggling” to hold Jones upright after receiving an order to stand Jones up from the bed.
At 23:15 an image captures Jones’ naked body as he is wheeled to a new cell. His head, still covered by a spit mask, lolls to the right.
At 24:47, the report says nurses begin assessing Jones. At 27:55 they begin CPR. The descriptions end at 51:45 when Jones departs from Garner in an ambulance.
In 2020, the Attorney General’s Office fought against a motion brought by the family’s lawyer to unseal the video. In their objection, the office argued that disclosing the tape to the public would “severely impair the safety and security of DOC correctional facilities” and “lead to
significant media attention” and “extrajudicial statements that obviously would prejudice or otherwise influence prospective jurors,” which would “compromise the Defendants’ right to a fair trial.”
In a response filed with the court, Jones’ argued that “The Defendants’ rationalizations for the protective order are a pretext to disguise the horrific treatment of mental health inmates.”
In the document, the plaintiffs said Jones “died as a result of this treatment” and that the video reveals “a glaring human rights violation that is all too common in the Connecticut Department of Corrections.”
“The horrific treatment of the vulnerable and large population of mental health inmates in Connecticut is a human rights issue. Anyone interested in prison reform and human rights have a right to view this video,” they said.
In statements to the Courant Thursday, representatives from the Attorney General’s Office and the DOC said their departments could not comment on matters involving pending litigation.
A representative from AFSCME Local 1565, the union representing the correctional officers named in the lawsuit, did not respond to a request for comment.
