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Case put procedures on trial Anderson's death showed justice system flaws, head juror says By DANI DODGE As a juror, Tim Price weighed all the details in a wrongful death case that resulted in the biggest cash settlement in Jackson County's history. He hopes the jury's verdict - that the county was negligent in Jeffrey Stuart Anderson's death - will be a "wake-up call" for the county. "I don't think there was any one individual at fault," Price said. "It was the aggregation of the actions." Price said that sitting through the trial convinced him that it is his responsibility as a citizen to more carefully monitor public institutions and to get more involved in the next sheriff's election. Price, 52, owns Siskiyou Plumbing in Ashland. He was the presiding juror in the case of Anderson vs. Jackson County. Anderson's family sued the county in federal court for excessive use of force and wrongful death. Anderson had turned himself in to the jail on April 2, 1996, for a probation violation and went to the hospital on April 7, covered with bruises from head to toe. He died after developing bleeding in his brain. During his time in jail Anderson spent 10 hours and 22 minutes in the restraint chair. The family's attorneys alleged that Anderson was beaten while in jail and denied proper medical treatment for alcohol withdrawal. The county said there were no beatings and Anderson's alcoholism was to blame for his death. The eight-person jury unanimously agreed the county was guilty of negligence in the death as well as deliberate indifference to Anderson's serious medical needs. The jury also was asked if jail employees used force "maliciously and sadistically." "We didn't have any evidence to that effect," Price said. "Not to say there weren't suspicions in my mind, but there wasn't a preponderance of the evidence." Price said things that may have happened "in the heat of the moment" ought to be addressed by better training. The jury's verdict, though, was not accepted by the judge because of a conflict between an answer on the verdict form and some money that was awarded. Before the judge could re-instruct the jury, the county and family agreed to a $1.8 million settlement. Price said the settlement was probably the best thing for all involved. "If we hadn't done the deliberations and come up with the verdict, nothing would have happened," he said. "I'm an advocate for mediation and that would have been a better way to solve this from the beginning." Price said he believes Anderson's brain hemorrhage began in the chair. There had been testimony that Anderson twice had been able to shake off the soft helmet he wore even though his arms were handcuffed to the chair and the helmet entirely encloses the head and is secured by Velcro in the back. Based on doctor's testimony at the trial, Price said he believes the force necessary to throw the helmet off could have caused the brain to bleed. Price even tried the helmet on to test his theory. If the bleed did start then, there was a "30-some hour lag" between its start and the hospital check-up. "He was crawling around on the floor and talking to specks on the floor and this was after being given massive doses of Librium," Price said. "They should have known something was going on." Price said the evidence he heard convinced him that the county needs to rethink its policies, procedures and training. He noted that Sheriff Bob Kennedy testified that 85 percent of inmates in the jail have substance-abuse problems and 12 percent at any time are actively hallucinating because of withdrawals. And yet, deputies who put Anderson in the restraint chair assumed he was a drunk instead of recognizing the signs of alcohol withdrawal. "If 85 percent are on drugs or alcohol, that should be 85 percent of what they are trained in," he said. "They should be trained to recognize the symptoms of withdrawal." But there were many other problems and oversights, Price felt: Anderson didn't wear a medical bracelet that would have warned deputies of his condition. Neither of the nurses employed by the jail at that time knew if they were on call. Anderson's jail number was mixed up with another Jeffrey Anderson who was in the jail at the same time. Anderson was both under-medicated and over-medicated during his five-day jail stay. Price also said the jail didn't share information well between shifts. Even after one deputy suggested twice on April 6 that Anderson should go to the hospital, he was ignored. Price also thought the jail should have medical staff on duty 24 hours a day, although he said he realizes there are financial barriers. Price said it boils down to an issue of the jail culture. "The culture has the ability to overwhelm people and they don't see things people from outside may see," he said. "And when they do that, they don't see what the consequences may be." And he's bothered that after the county commissioners agreed to the settlement, they denied any liability in the death. He pointed out that county employees locked Anderson to the restraint chair with steel handcuffs and shackles rather than the soft restraints recommended by the chair's manufacturer. "I know as a business owner, if I was shipping a fragile package and the manufacturer's instructions recommended a soft strap and I used a hard strap, I would be liable," he said. "That's a way I could make sense of it." Price said the county should accept its responsibility. "I think given the fact there were so many inconsistencies and little items wrong, something like this was inevitable." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.