Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list
Next Post: Question of the day
Posted in:
* New York Times…
Mr. Perry’s case underscores how willing some American pathologists have been to rule in-custody deaths of Black people accidents or natural occurrences caused by sickle cell trait, which is carried by one in 13 Black Americans and is almost always benign. Those with the trait have only one of the two genes required for full-blown sickle cell disease, a painful and sometimes life-threatening condition that can deform red blood cells into crescent shapes that stick together and block blood flow.
As recently as August, lawyers for Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted last month of murdering George Floyd, invoked sickle cell trait in an unsuccessful motion to dismiss the case against him, saying that the condition, along with other health problems and drug use, was the reason Mr. Floyd had died.
The New York Times has found at least 46 other instances over the past 25 years in which medical examiners, law enforcement officials or defenders of accused officers pointed to the trait as a cause or major factor in deaths of Black people in custody. Fifteen such deaths have occurred since 2015. […]
Medical experts also said it could be misleading to attribute death to the trait based on the presence of cells that have clumped or sickled — something that often happens when people with the condition stop breathing. Finding the crescent-shaped blood cells during an autopsy is to be expected, the experts said, and does not mean the cells were like that before death.
In the case of Mr. Floyd, the medical examiner in Minneapolis noted the curved cells and said he had had sickle cell trait. But the autopsy indicated that it had not contributed to his death, and there was no evidence the cells had sickled before he died. In their unsuccessful motion to dismiss the case, Mr. Chauvin’s lawyers nonetheless suggested that the trait could cause trouble breathing.
The argument echoed claims made in other cases as early as 1973, The Times found. That year, 28-year-old George Lucas died in the Cook County jail in Illinois, according to media reports at the time. Inmates testified that guards had beaten, strangled and suffocated him with a blanket, while jail officials said they had only strapped him to his bed.
But after sickled cells were found during the autopsy, the coroner said Mr. Lucas would not have died were it not for the trait, Dr. James Bowman, a pathologist who participated in the hearing, wrote in an academic article years later. The death was deemed natural and the guards were not charged. “Thus,” Dr. Bowman wrote, “the dangerous precedent for legalized murder of persons with sickle cell trait could become established.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, May 17, 21 @ 1:11 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list
Next Post: Question of the day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Dr. James Bowman, Valerie Jarrett’s father.
Comment by Amalia Monday, May 17, 21 @ 1:45 pm
===Inmates testified that guards had beaten, strangled and suffocated him with a blanket, while jail officials said they had only strapped him to his bed.===
Police violence has been a problem for many, many decades and the voices making every effort to report those injustices were ignored or silenced. It’s only with the availability of digital video that we are now discovering who we should have believed and that a badge is nothing more than an employee ID. It does not convey any higher virtue to the wearer, but it does make the actions of said individual the official act of our community.
For too long we have protected murderers because they were on the public payroll.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, May 17, 21 @ 1:54 pm
Bizarre? No. Criminal and depraved? Yes.
Comment by phocion Monday, May 17, 21 @ 1:59 pm
Gotta love the logic by the coroner..would’ve survived the beating had it not been for sickle cell
Comment by IL-suited Monday, May 17, 21 @ 3:53 pm
Find an hour and listen to Preet Bharara’s podcast with the two lead atty’s brought in to prosecute the Chauvin case. What a great listen to top notch thinkers and talkers.
Comment by Jo Jo Monkeyboy Monday, May 17, 21 @ 4:31 pm