Indifference at Denver County Jail
Posted by
April ArmaniJune 26, 2007 5:30 PMThe family of Emily Rae Rice, the twenty-four year old who died needlessly in the hands of Denver County Jail employees, files suit against the City and County of Denver, Denver Health and nearly 50 deputies, jail guards, doctors and nurses.
It is absolutely amazing that in this day and age someone like Emily Rae Rice could die due to the negligent actions of those entities entrusted with the duty to keep inmates alive. On February 18, 2006, the twenty four year old woman died while in custody because she was allegedly not given proper medical attention or treatment. Ms. Rice was booked into the jail after a motor vehicle collision and it was determined that Ms. Rice's BAC was .112.
It is alleged in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Denver District Court that Denver Health and the Jail failed to give Ms. Rice proper medical treatment. The police report from the incident states that Emily was complaining that she was unable to mover her legs In the lawsuit, the family claims that on the afternoon of Feb. 18, 2006, a jailhouse nurse told Rice, whom he suspected of being drunk, to "sleep it off." That same nurse told Rice to "stop being dramatic" when she collapsed during a prolonged check-in, the suit says. By the next morning Ms. Rice was dead. An autopsy found that she had three broken ribs, a 7-in gash to her liver and a lacerated spleen. Emily didn't have to die. If what is alleged in the suit is true, Emily died due to the negligence of others. Let us pray that this lawsuit brings her family peace and resolution to a horrific situation.
For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Wrongful Death.