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Fascinating Topic: Prisoners Entitled to CPAP While Incarcerated?
Came across this sad story, and it raised the question for me of what rights prisoners have to CPAP in their cells:
Earlier this month, the biker called Tombstone Charlie told a judge he wouldn't last in jail without his medications and a breathing mask he wore when he slept.
Charles H. Nichols Jr. of Roanoke, as Tombstone Charlie was more officially known, was one of three men from the Roanoke and New River valleys charged in a multistate federal crackdown on the Pagans motorcycle gang. Federal authorities said Tuesday that he got his half dozen or so medicines and his mask. He was screened by the medical staffs of two jails.
But on Saturday, less than two weeks after Nichols' initial appearance in federal court in Roanoke, the 6-foot-2-inch, 400-pound 57-year-old was found dead in a cell at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., sparking rumors that something improper had happened. On the Web site of The Charleston Gazette, which reported his death, readers posted comments attributing his death to poor care or worse.
In Roanoke, his brother, Robert Nichols, said he had heard that Charles Nichols had not been able to use the air mask he wore to combat sleep apnea.
An investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service ruled out foul play.
"His medical issues caught up with him," said Brad Sellers, acting chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Steve Blando, a spokesman for the marshals service, wrote in an e-mail that an autopsy determined Nichols died from a heart attack. His air mask was in his cell when he died, Blando wrote.
Robert Nichols was glad Tuesday to hear the mask was with his brother. But he wondered if it had been working properly -- its apparatus needed regular adjustment, he said.
He agreed that his brother's health was poor, though, saying he had suffered from diabetes, had blood pressure problems and may have had heart disease.
Nichols' son, Luke Nichols, who lives in Salem, also said he wondered what had happened to his father. Charles Nichols had been too ill to ride a motorcycle for years, Luke Nichols said, but had kept a job driving a dump truck for Adams Construction Co.
As for Charles Nichols' nickname, that came from the work he had done in the family's former cemetery marker business, Robert and Luke Nichols said. Granite Memorials Inc. was started by their grandfather in the 1930s, Robert Nichols said. Charles Nichols worked there until 1994, when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, he said.
Nichols, along with Richard Howard "Reverse" Smith of Roanoke and James Vernon "Timex" Hoback of Pilot, were accused of transporting 5 pounds of C-4 explosive from one Pagans group to another, with the knowledge that it would be used in an attempt to hurt someone.
They were among 55 people charged in a federal indictment that accused the Pagans of trying to run off rival gangs via attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and more. The case is being prosecuted in Charleston, and defendants arrested in other federal districts have been taken there to stand trial.
Nichols also had been convicted in 2002 after a much-publicized brawl among the Pagans, Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs on Long Island, N.Y. He was found guilty of a federal assault charge and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
But Luke Nichols said there was much more to his father. "He had a heart as big as Mill Mountain," he said.
found at: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/223250
Earlier this month, the biker called Tombstone Charlie told a judge he wouldn't last in jail without his medications and a breathing mask he wore when he slept.
Charles H. Nichols Jr. of Roanoke, as Tombstone Charlie was more officially known, was one of three men from the Roanoke and New River valleys charged in a multistate federal crackdown on the Pagans motorcycle gang. Federal authorities said Tuesday that he got his half dozen or so medicines and his mask. He was screened by the medical staffs of two jails.
But on Saturday, less than two weeks after Nichols' initial appearance in federal court in Roanoke, the 6-foot-2-inch, 400-pound 57-year-old was found dead in a cell at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., sparking rumors that something improper had happened. On the Web site of The Charleston Gazette, which reported his death, readers posted comments attributing his death to poor care or worse.
In Roanoke, his brother, Robert Nichols, said he had heard that Charles Nichols had not been able to use the air mask he wore to combat sleep apnea.
An investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service ruled out foul play.
"His medical issues caught up with him," said Brad Sellers, acting chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Steve Blando, a spokesman for the marshals service, wrote in an e-mail that an autopsy determined Nichols died from a heart attack. His air mask was in his cell when he died, Blando wrote.
Robert Nichols was glad Tuesday to hear the mask was with his brother. But he wondered if it had been working properly -- its apparatus needed regular adjustment, he said.
He agreed that his brother's health was poor, though, saying he had suffered from diabetes, had blood pressure problems and may have had heart disease.
Nichols' son, Luke Nichols, who lives in Salem, also said he wondered what had happened to his father. Charles Nichols had been too ill to ride a motorcycle for years, Luke Nichols said, but had kept a job driving a dump truck for Adams Construction Co.
As for Charles Nichols' nickname, that came from the work he had done in the family's former cemetery marker business, Robert and Luke Nichols said. Granite Memorials Inc. was started by their grandfather in the 1930s, Robert Nichols said. Charles Nichols worked there until 1994, when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, he said.
Nichols, along with Richard Howard "Reverse" Smith of Roanoke and James Vernon "Timex" Hoback of Pilot, were accused of transporting 5 pounds of C-4 explosive from one Pagans group to another, with the knowledge that it would be used in an attempt to hurt someone.
They were among 55 people charged in a federal indictment that accused the Pagans of trying to run off rival gangs via attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and more. The case is being prosecuted in Charleston, and defendants arrested in other federal districts have been taken there to stand trial.
Nichols also had been convicted in 2002 after a much-publicized brawl among the Pagans, Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs on Long Island, N.Y. He was found guilty of a federal assault charge and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
But Luke Nichols said there was much more to his father. "He had a heart as big as Mill Mountain," he said.
found at: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/223250
Views: 3726
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on
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Mike, I can assure you this inmate’s machine and mask were checked to see that they conformed to his script. He would not have been allowed to have the unit, had not a valid script been in place and produced. He had not been incarcerated long enough for a sleep study to be conducted.
My question with this individual’s treatment stems from where he was incarcerated within the regional jail’s facility.
The standard cell system does not include AC outlets in the normal cell layout. That being said was he in an isolated medical cell. If so, I agree that he should have been monitored more closely than other inmates. If he was, then the possibility of negligence exists with the staff.
I personally believe that many years of detrimental lifestyle habits by this individual, along with the stress of “life imprisonment” on the current federal and state charges, to which he and his co-defendants were facing, killed him.
Personally – no great loss. One less we are paying for.
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Permalink Reply by Henning on
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This is one of the treads that really amazes me. Of course because of our different systems.
We have a public health care system, where everything is free to the public. Prisoners have exactly the same rights in this context as all other citizens.
That is one difference, but the justice system is also very different. I have read that one can be sentenced from 200 to 300 years in prison in the USA.
In this country are maximum penalty 16 years (life time), and with good behavior will be given freedom after 12 years. We have no death penalty.
Furthermore, we use a lot of money to rehabilitate prisoners. They can also get free education in prisons.
I think this is valid throughout Europe.
I would not postulate that our system always is better. Unfortunately, there are always some who in turn will commit new crimes.
Henning
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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I remember the incident in CA where a convict on death row was in line for a transplant, a matching organ was found, but there was also a solid, upright citizen needing the same organ for transplant, but the convict was higher on the list. There was even a court case. Nonetheless the convict got the organ, the upright citizen died, the convict was put to death in due time. Quite a crock, eh? When does common sense prevail??
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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
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I missed that one Judy.
I know I would have been angry if I would have been the "upright" citizen's family. Of course, I feel that our system is too easy on prisoners for the most part.
We had a girl in our community that commited fraud for years. When she was finally caught she was sentenced to 4 years in prison, she did 4 months. She laughed as she had a fairly new house, sports car, etc. and she said with no education (didn't finish high school) where could she earn that kind of money and be able to pay cash for her purchases.
She got out and continued with her lifestyle. Who is really paying for this lifestyle -- you and I through higher prices and taxes.
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