The Ron Settles Case

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Settles


Ron Settles (June 12, 1959 — June 2, 1981) was a California State University, Long Beach & Banning High School football player who was arrested by the Signal Hill Police Department in 1981. The morning after his arrest, he was found severely beaten and hanging in his jail cell. A huge furor erupted afterwards over the suspicious nature of his death. The police said he committed suicide, but this story was very weak. The Los Angeles District Attorney filed charges against them, with the Signal Hill Police officers eventually taking the fifth amendment to avoid incriminating themselves. No one was convicted of Settles' homicide, but the city of Signal Hill did pay a large settlement to the family. Settles' murder was one of several highly controversial deaths of arrestees in the 1970s and 80s that changed the way police departments deal with prisoners. Many police departments now videotape jail areas, and any time a police officer or correction officer touches a prisoner in any sort of a restraining way, a report is required to be written. These measures are intended to decrease the chances of police brutality in prison cells.
Settles' story was told by Dr. Michael Baden on HBO's series Autopsy.