THE DEATH OF EDDIE BAGBY - by MARA LEVERITT - Government - http://www.maxpagesplus.com/darkevilworld/The_Death_of_Eddie

THE ARKANSAS TIMES
AUGUST 6, 1999

We have a pretty good picture of what happened to Inmate Eddie Bagby in the moments that led to his death. There's not much dispute about the details. Their interpretation is murkier.

Here's what transpired, as pieced together from investigators' reports obtained through the state's Freedom of Information Act: Bagby was a 24-year-old single parent with a 9th grade education who lived in Dardanelle. He worked at a poultry processing plant and had a drinking problem. He had no history of violence, but one night in 1998, while driving drunk, he tried to outrun a police officer who attempted to stop him. Bagby was caught, tried on a charge of fleeing, and sentenced to serve a year and a half in the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Earlier this year, Bagby was evaluated and found to be eligible for participation in the department's Boot Camp program, a strenuous course of physical and personal discipline t, if completed successfully, can lead to early release. He was transferred to the unit at Wrightsville, where the boot camp is run, on the morning of March 9, 1999.

By that evening, he was dead.

True to its name, the boot camp program is not intended to be easy. On the first day, participants get haircuts, attend an orientation briefing, and eat lunch. Then they are taken outside for a process referred to as "shock incarceration," or more simply, "shock." This consists of double-time running, push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, and movement through an obstacle course. About five minutes into the shock, while he was supposed to be running, Bagby fell to his knees. A drill instructor yelled at him to get up. Bagby didn't. Then another drill instructor, Sgt. John Broadway, reiterated the command, warning that he would be sprayed with pepper spray if he didn't comply. When Bagby still did not get up , Broadway sprayed him in the face.

As the officer led Bagby to a faucet where he could wash off the pepper spray, Bagby collapsed again. The drill sargent commanded him to get up. Bagby said, "I can't." Broadway sprayed him again. As Broadway next attempted to lead Bagby to the faucet, the inmate collapsed a third time. Minutes passed as Broadway and other officers demanded that Bagby get up. Finally, the boot camp administrator, Tommy Rochelle, ordered Bagby carried to the infirmary. When attempts to revive him failed, Bagby was taken by ambulance to a Little Rock hospital where he died at about 6:30 p.m.

The next day, prison spokesman Dina Tyler told reporters, "At this point, we're at a complete loss to explain what happened medically. At least as I understand it, they [the doctors] did indicate there was a possibility he had suffered from a strange seizure disorder."

Reference to such a disorder appears nowhere in the record. Though Bagby had suffered from childhood asthma, that fact was known when he entered the boot camp, the condition was not considered serious and he had passed the physical exam.

An autopsy revealed that Bagby also suffered from sickle cell trait, a condition that can reduce the amount of oxygen the blood carries. The medical examiner ruled that because of the "several different variables" present at Bagby's death, the manner of his death would remain "undetermined." He noted, however, that, "Because of the short interval between pepper spray exposure and collapse, it is our opinion that the administration of this substance was a contributory factor in the chain of events leading to death."

How much pepper spray Bagby actually received is unclear. Broadway told investigators that after the incident he'd emptied the contents of his one-ounce canister onto the ground. What was clear was that the spraying of Bagby in both instances was in violation of department policy.

Pepper spray is considered a non-lethal weapon to be used only "when absolutely necessary" or "when the inmate threatens bodily harm ." Policy stipulates it "shall never be used as a means of punishment."

Moreover, according to policy, Rochelle, the boot camp administrator, should have confronted Broadway after the first use of pepper spray on Bagby. If that had happened, Bagby, who was fighting for breath, would have been spared the second dose.

The department's internal affairs investigation also revealed that the officers involved in the incident had not taken the annual refresher course required for the use of pepper spray, and their certification had expired. "Unfortunately," one report noted, no officer responsible for training was "currently employed."

The outcome? John Byus, the department's assistant director for medical affairs, concluded that the use of pepper spray on Bagby had nothing to do with his death.

Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley, to whom the Arkansas State Police presented their findings, declined to prosecute.

Rochelle was suspended for five days. Broadway was suspended for three.