Lawsuit: Man With Schizophrenia Falsely Held

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press



Lawsuit: Man With Schizophrenia Falsely Held
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sep 30, 2014, 2:12 PM ET
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press


A northern New Mexico county and police officers falsely detained an Albuquerque man diagnosed with schizophrenia for preaching at a Denny's restaurant, then denied him medical treatment in jail, according to a new federal lawsuit.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque last week, attorneys for Elijah Dominguez said Colfax County and Raton police officers violated his Constitutional rights after his May 2013 arrest for disorderly conduct.

According to the lawsuit, Dominguez, now 22, stopped at the Raton restaurant while driving from Colorado and was arrested unlawfully for loudly preaching at the restaurant about his obscure religious beliefs and positions on gang violence.

Following his arrest, he was then denied medical treatment for his schizophrenia for four days at the Colfax County Detention Center and was left secluded in a holding cell, court papers said.

"During his detention, (Dominguez) was displaying obvious symptoms of psychosis such as talking to the wall, dancing around nude and not sleeping despite days passing," the lawsuit said.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-man-schizophrenia-falsely-held-25868990

[MADem]

1. I wonder if this lawsuit will prevail.

It will depend on if the accused appeared lucid at times, and gave off the impression that he was "acting up" to get attention from his jailers.

He DID disturb the peace at that restaurant, so the bust was valid even if they later declined to prosecute. Mental illness isn't a "get out of jail free" card.

The only question is if there was a delay that could be construed as "unreasonable" in getting a doctor to examine him. That's really not made clear in the piece.

Look at Ted Nugent--he was able to mimic mental illness for over a month to get out of going to Vietnam. It happens. Not saying that is what happened here, but people who are incarcerated do have a variety of reactions to being detained and one of those reactions is outrageous and abnormal behavior. And since no one can be required to take their meds in NM, there's that piece, too:

In previous years, New Mexico state lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to get a "Kendra's law" passed. The law would require people with severe mental illnesses to take medications or face involuntary hospitalization. New York's Kendra's law was named after Kendra Webdale. She was killed in 1999 after being pushed in front of a subway train by a man battling untreated schizophrenia.

According to the Arlington, Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, New Mexico is among five holdout states that have not approved laws allowing court orders to make mental health outpatients take their medications.

Advocates in New Mexico have begun pushing for a similar law and more mental health resources following a March police shooting of a homeless camper who spent years in and out of jail and the state's only psychiatric hospital. The shooting launched a violent protest in the city and later convinced Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry to ask the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the troubled police department amid a pending federal investigation.

[alfredo]

3. He kept himself high on LSD to help with the ruse.

[MADem]

4. That could be a defense--that they thought he was on some sort of drug, not in need of mental health

intervention.

There's a lot of unknown aspects we're not hearing about.

[alfredo]

5. He was shitting and pissing in his pants, didn't bathe, or change clothes. He probably stank so

bad they rejected him just to get him out of there.

[MADem]

6. And he did that for quite a while, too. nt

[alfredo]

7. And now he wants to be seen as some Rambo, super patriot.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. training, training, training.

No excuse for police not to know this.