In the most horrific video you will ever view...Derek Williams begs the police to open the windows to the squad car, and pleads that he cannot breathe...the watch him die in the backseat as he fights for his life...graffic video
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/judge-named-to-preside-over-inquest-into-derek-williams-death-fg70s0l-171390721.html
An assistant medical examiner trusted a police detective's statement that the arrest of Derek Williams happened "without incident," leading the pathologist to conclude a year ago that Williams died naturally, Milwaukee County's chief medical examiner said Wednesday.
Assistant Medical Examiner Christopher Poulos did not ask for or review any police reports or video during his initial investigation of Williams' death. Instead, he relied on a detective's statement to an on-scene investigator from the medical examiner's office about the July 2011 death.
Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Brian Peterson said Wednesday that Poulos should have gotten the police reports, especially because he knew Williams, 22, had the genetic marker known as sickle cell trait and might be more sensitive to force. Sickle cell crisis - a potentially fatal condition - results when oxygen deprivation causes red blood cells to suddenly become misshapen, or sickle, blocking blood vessels. This prevents oxygen from being carried throughout the body.
Peterson said Poulos, whom he considers a relatively inexperienced doctor with about five years on the job, did not understand that the police definition of no significant force would differ from a medical definition of force.
Had Poulos asked for the written reports, he would have read how officers chased Williams and dragged him out from behind a table. Then, one officer "ended up on top of Williams," who was facedown, and subdued the robbery suspect by pressing a knee into his back while he was handcuffed. As Williams lay on the ground, he complained he couldn't breathe. When officers got him to his feet, his body went limp.
Had Poulos watched the squad car video, he would have seen Williams in the back seat, handcuffed, pleading for help for nearly eight minutes, eyes rolled back in his head and gasping for air, before losing consciousness. Poulos neither read those reports nor watched the video until he learned about their contents from the Journal Sentinel. He then revised his ruling from natural death to homicide. The newspaper obtained the video and police reports through repeated open records requests and negotiations over a 10-month period.
Milwaukee medical examiners are not required to read police reports, watch video or obtain other evidence before making a ruling about deaths in police custody. The office's written policy on such cases does not even require the chief medical examiner to review rulings by his assistants.
Police custody cases have the potential to "challenge public trust," according to the policy. "Such cases may also at least appear to present conflict of interest issues, particularly when the involved agency is also the investigating agency."
Based on the Williams case, Peterson said Wednesday he is changing policy to require all deaths in police custody to be reviewed before a panel of all pathologists in the office, including himself. He still has not decided whether he will require pathologists to obtain police reports in such cases.
"Should we have a policy to direct doctors in police-involved cases to get police reports? Yeah, maybe. So we will talk about that," Peterson said Wednesday.
Poulos' revised ruling maintains the cause of Williams' death as sickle cell crisis but changes the manner from natural to homicide due to "flight from and altercation with police." Homicide in forensic terms means "death at the hands of another," but does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.
Doctors at the National Institutes of Health say people with only the trait - such as Williams, who did not have the disease - cannot die of sickle cell crisis. Pathologists counter that it can happen in rare cases.
Peterson said he doesn't suspect that Milwaukee police withheld information or misled Poulos. "I try to assign the best motive to everyone, including reporters. Until someone shows to me they are malicious or evil, I will hold them at that," Peterson said. "I would say it is a failure in judgment by Dr. Poulos."
In brief comments, Poulos told a reporter Wednesday, "I reviewed secondary sources which at the time I believed to be sufficient. However, the primary sources were never intentionally kept from me."
'Without incident'
Milwaukee police did not respond to a question Wednesday about what Detective James Hensley meant when he told a forensic investigator that Williams was taken into custody "without incident."
Chief Edward Flynn did not respond to requests for comment but did appear on WTMJ-AM talk-radio host Charlie Sykes' show and said he understands the case has shaken public confidence in his department.
"A viewing of this video to the average person is extraordinarily disturbing," Flynn said. "I don't think the community is through expressing its concern and displeasure, and my obligation is to hear that out."
Officials at the Police Department, district attorney's office, and the city's Fire and Police Commission all viewed the video months ago and concluded the officers involved did nothing wrong. They said they placed great weight in the medical examiner's initial conclusion in making that decision. All have since reopened their investigations.
However, discipline is not dependent on a ruling of homicide. One department rule requires police to call for help immediately "if medical treatment becomes necessary."
The Police Department's Standard Operating Procedures states: "It cannot be overemphasized that members shall continually monitor and remain cognizant of the condition of a person in custody, especially when he/she is in restraints. The arrestee may encounter immediate or delayed physical reactions that may be triggered by the change in physical or environmental factors. Therefore, caution and awareness on the part of the officer is constantly required."
Another department rule says officers have a duty to render first aid to a prisoner. Not doing so constitutes neglect of duty, the rule says. After the beating of Frank Jude Jr. by off-duty officers in 2004, several officers were fired for violating that rule.
Officers also can be disciplined for excessive use of force.
Chief issues 2 memos
On Wednesday, Flynn signed a memorandum requiring officers to call for an ambulance in situations including when a person is unconscious, has no pulse, has difficulty breathing, complains of moderate to severe pain, or has moderate to severe bleeding and is incoherent, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Journal Sentinel.
A second memo issued Wednesday directs creation of a critical incident review board, which will respond to incidents in which citizens are killed or injured by police officers. The board is made up of Milwaukee police personnel and will report to Flynn.
Also Wednesday, it was announced that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kevin Martens will preside over a public inquest into Williams' death. District Attorney John Chisholm asked for the inquest and is seeking a special prosecutor to handle it . Chisholm has not announced who that prosecutor will be.
Medical examiners and prosecutors have different definitions for the word homicide. The crime of homicide requires prosecutors to prove intent to kill, reckless disregard for life or negligent disregard for life while operating a firearm or a vehicle.
Other crimes do not require a homicide ruling by the medical examiner.
In state court, officers could be charged with misconduct in public office. In federal court, they could be charged with depriving a citizen of civil rights under color of law.
Mayor Tom Barrett, a dozen aldermen and other elected officials have asked U.S. Attorney James Santelle to investigate. Santelle said he is weighing authorizing both a federal criminal investigation and a more sweeping examination into a possible pattern of civil rights abuses by the department. Flynn and Chisholm said they would cooperate with such investigations.
Members of the Common Council and County Board will meet Friday with Peterson to discuss the case.
Ald. Joe Davis Sr. is proposing legislation to require police to provide more detail about their procedures.
County Executive Chris Abele, who oversees the medical examiner's office, said he directed Peterson to provide for a full review of what happened. Abele wants to know whether Milwaukee is following best practices nationally.
In Minneapolis, all in-custody deaths are reviewed by a panel of the entire medical examiner's office, according to Andrew Baker, a pathologist who also is the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.
Baker said he personally handled the most recent in-custody death there. He said he would trust his staff to do it, but with reviews by others. Baker said it is vital to get police reports in such a case.
"You want to paint the larger picture of what happened beyond what you are seeing in the morgue," Baker said.
Baker said there is no national standard on what records a medical examiner seeks because laws vary among states. Under Wisconsin law, a medical examiner or coroner can seek a subpoena for any records. The national association reviewed Milwaukee County's office in recent years and approved of its procedures, Peterson said.
Peterson said Poulos sought advice from several people in the office about the Williams case last year but no one saw the entire case. Peterson said that once he actually looked at the complete file earlier this month, he spotted problems. For instance, Poulos found injuries on Williams' front and back side. Poulos had attributed those to Williams climbing a fence as he fled from police. But he couldn't explain how Williams would have back injuries from such a climb, Peterson said.
There was a cracked hyoid bone in Williams' neck that was revealed during the autopsy. Such injuries result in about one-third of fatal strangulations and are caused by extreme force.
Poulos said it could have happened from resuscitation, and Peterson agreed.
But Werner U. Spitz, a forensic pathologist and one of the nation's leading experts on death investigation, called that possibility remote. Spitz, who reviewed the case for the Journal Sentinel, said it was much more likely the result of a chokehold.
None of the police reports mentions a chokehold.
Poulos said Wednesday he attended a meeting with Chisholm and attorneys representing the Williams family last year, but left before the video was shown. He watched it last week only after a Journal Sentinel reporter described it to him and sent him some of the police reports.
Peterson said they decided to change the manner of death to homicide before Peterson saw the video.
In the video, as Williams begs for help, one of the officers says, "You're breathing fine," and "Stop messing around." Williams struggles to breathe for 7 minutes 45 seconds, then slumps over, unconscious.
An officer checks his pulse several times, props him up in the seat and walks to a nearby supervisor's car. Finding no one there, the officer returns, pulls Williams out of the squad car and starts CPR as a different officer calls for medical assistance. At least three minutes pass between the time Williams loses consciousness and the time the officer takes Williams out of the car. Police and paramedics continue CPR for more than 45 minutes before Williams is declared dead.
Activists and community leaders have expressed outrage over the video in recent days. The way Williams was treated by police is a symbol of a larger problem with police in Milwaukee, one of the most segregated cities in the nation, said James Hall, president of the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP.
Community meeting Thursday
Milwaukee Matters, a grass-roots group, will convene a community meeting and screen the squad car video of Derek Williams' death and police efforts to revive him at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Milwaukee Brotherhood of Firefighters Hall, 7717 W. Good Hope Road. The group also invites the public to get involved and to share their experiences with the Milwaukee Police Department at www.derekmichaelwilliamsjr.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MishandledByMPD .
