Man Dies After Excessive Use of Force In Jail

Nick Christie, a 62 year old retired man left Ohio to go visit his brother in Florida. During the trip, Mr. Christie mentally deteriorated very quickly. His wife was already concerned about his well being and had called the Lee County police in Florida to ask them to watch out for his well being. Instead, the police found him, arrested him, put him in jail, where he was stripped, strapped to a chair, repeatedly sprayed with pepper spray even though he was completely restrained, forced to wear a spit mask for hours, and was pretty much tortured until he went into respiratory distress. He was taken to the hospital and died. All this despite him explaining his numerous medical conditions and obviously very disoriented.

Apparently, he was initially arrested for public intoxication. However, there is evidence that he was simply sufferring from Alzheimer's or other mental disorientation. In his 62 years, he had a clean criminal record except for a DUI in the 1980's.

It's already been determined by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that pepper spraying suspects suffering mental illness is a violation of their constitutional rights. Furthermore, several federal appeals courts have ruled that spraying someone who is already restrained is an excessive use of force.

While we all want to trust law enforcement, they are not above the law. Even a disoriented person, deserves compassion and care, not torture. This is the United States of America, where we can do better than this. We say we value life. Let's back it up.

Thankfully, lawyers have now taken this case on in a civil lawsuit. I wish their attorneys the best.

Please read the complete article here.