TRAVORIS MONTEZ HOOD

INMATE DIES IN DECATUR CITY LOCKUP

THE HUNTSVILLE TIMES

Associated Press
June 29, 2007

DECATUR -- An inmate housed in the Decatur City Jail died of self- inflicted injuries, police said.

Sgt. Jeremy Hayes said jailers found Travoris Montez Hood, 27, of Decatur unresponsive and not breathing about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Police declined to confirm or deny reports that Hood, who was in jail on misdemeanor warrants, hanged himself. The investigation was turned over to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

Hayes said corrections officers reached Hood shortly after he suffered the injuries.

"It was discovered through video monitoring," he said. "That is my understanding. Then they went back there and found him." Corrections officers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until rescue and emergency workers arrived. Hood was taken to Decatur General Hospital, where he was declared dead after resuscitation attempts failed.

Hayes said one other person was inside the three-man cell with Hood, but the cellmate was asleep.

UNNAMED FEMALE PRISONER

JAIL GUARD FIRED IN CASE OF UNATTENDED INMATE

Posted by David Ferrara
June 29, 2007

A Baldwin County Sheriff's Office corrections officer who left a female inmate unattended inside a hot jail van has been fired.

A three-year veteran with the department, David L. Brown, 40, has until the end of next week to appeal his termination, according to Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack Jr. Brown had left the woman inside the van while he attended a sexual harassment training session inside the jail, the sheriff said.

Brown had worked in jail transportation for about a year, Mack said.

The allegations will be forwarded to the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

MELVIN WADE HARRIS

SHELBY INMATE HANGING SPURS POLICY REVIEW

Birmingham News
Saturday, August 28, 2004
NANCY WILSTACH and MALCOMB DANIELS
News staff writers

Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said Friday his department will continue to review policies and procedures at the County Jail following the third hanging death of an inmate this year and the second this month.

Melvin Wade Harris, 35, of Harpersville was found hanged in his cell at 11:20 p.m. Thursday.

"Having had two other deaths in the jail in a short period of time as we prepare to move into the new facility is very disturbing," Curry said in a prepared statement. A new jail was completed recently, but is not yet in use.

In a news conference Friday, Curry said his department constantly examines its policies and has found nothing since the year's first jail hanging in May that required a change in jail policy.

"Our employees are very diligent," Curry said. "They're doing their job. The checks and balances are in place to the best of our ability."

The Alabama Bureau of Investigation is looking into all three deaths.

Harris was found dead less than three hours after he was booked on charges of non-support of a child and failing to appear in court on a traffic violation. He also had been arraigned Aug. 4 on first-degree sexual abuse, sodomy and rape charges, according to Chief Assistant District Attorney Bill Bostick.

Harris was booked at 8:45 p.m. and placed into a cell by himself at 10 p.m. A corrections officer checked on him at 11:20 and found him hanging, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Shelby County Coroner Doug Ballard Jr. said Harris apparently hanged himself with a sheet. He said there were no signs of foul play.

Efforts to reach Harris' family for comment were unsuccessful.

On Aug. 3, David Earl Lee of Wilsonville was found hanged in the jail. Lee was being held on rape and sodomy charges.

Kenneth Wayne Moss was found hanged in an isolation medical cell May 1. He had been charged with obstructing justice, unlawful possession/ receipt of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and escape.

> Curry said he couldn't say whether the move into a new jail, planned within the next few weeks, will prevent jail deaths. The new jail, however, will have better technology, including more cameras, Curry said.

Shelby County Attorney Frank C. "Butch" Ellis said he spent Friday looking into Harris' death and hadn't found any wrongdoing on the part of jail employees.

"I don't see anything there that they should have done differently," Ellis said. "They didn't have any threats of suicide. It is unfortunate that we had this one, and it is unfortunate that we had the others."

Bostick said the results of the ABI probe into Harris' death will be submitted to the district attorney's office.

"Then we have to look to see if there was any criminal wrongdoing," Bostick said. "There is nothing that would indicate that was the case in either of the previous incidents or in this one."

FARRON BARKSDALE

STATE: BARKSDALE FAMILY NOT DUE RECORDS
ON INMATE'S DEATH

Posted by Associated Press
September 14, 2007 2:21 PM

MONTGOMERY -- The state is refusing to provide records about the death of inmate Farron Barksdale to relatives of the man, who was convicted of killing two Athens police officers and died within days of arriving in an Alabama prison.

A spokesman for the Department of Corrections said Friday the documents aren't public record, and a lawyer for the family said he is considering what to do next to obtain the reports.

"It's just a stone wall," said Jake Watson, representing the Barksdale family.

Barksdale, 32, was found unconscious in his cell at Kilby prison near Montgomery on Aug. 11, just three days after he arrived. He died at a hospital on Aug. 20 after relatives asked that he be taken off life support.

Prison officials have said Barksdale -- with a history of mental illness -- had a high fever, symptoms of a bad infection and marks like bruises on his pelvis.

Questions were raised about the death partly because Sheriff Mike Blakely of Limestone County, where Barksdale was convicted, said his staff received a call from the hospital indicating Barksdale appeared to have been severely beaten.

The prison system said it was unaware of any assault.

Watson sent the prison system a letter seeking information about the department's investigation of Barksdale's condition, including witness statements and other reports, but the agency refused to release the documents.

Watson made the request under the state's open records law, but prison spokesman Brian Corbett denied that such records are open to the public.

"There are some long-standing court cases and precedents that state an inmate's file is not a public record," said Corbett.

Generally, the department only releases basic information about inmates including their names, birthdates, convictions and sentences, he said.

Watson said Barksdale's family wants to know what led to his death and is considering options to obtain the records.

The Department of Forensic Science performed an autopsy Barksdale, but the findings have not been released. An outside expert hired by Barksdale's family witnessed the examination under a judge's order, which was made in response to a complaint filed by the family.

Barksdale was sentenced to life without parole after he admitted shooting Officer Tony Mims, 40, and Sgt. Larry Russell, 42, as they arrived at a house in Athens in January 2004.

The defense claimed Barksdale was a paranoid schizophrenic, but doctors determined he was mentally competent to stand trial.

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