Dillon Bakke, an artist and graphic designer at a long-term care facility and caregiver in severe hemophilia, was booked into the Ramsey County Jail last summer with head injuries, according to attorneys for his family. Two days later, on August 9, a 37-year-old St. Paul man was found unresponsive and hospitalized in his jail cell. He died of internal bleeding on 27 August, never regaining consciousness.
In February 2021 Miri Mozuch-Stafford was arrested at a hotel on suspicion of disorderly conduct. After he was lodged in the Ramsey County Jail, correctional officers allegedly pinned him to the ground, breaking his leg and severing an artery, before leaving him in agony for 17 hours without hospital care. done.
The deformity was “appalling” according to his lawyers, who have filed a federal lawsuit against a series of correctional officers and a prison doctor, seeking $10 million in damages.
Two lawsuits related to these incidents shine a harsh light on conditions at the county’s 500-bed adult detention center in St. Paul, which was recently ordered this month by the state Department of Corrections to address overcrowding following a state investigation. There was a shortage of staff for To delay or deny medical treatment for prisoners.
“These two cases will be Exhibit A and Exhibit B, which are the problems that they have,” said Richard Student, an attorney with Meshbesher & Associates. A federal lawsuit in the case of Bakke. Bakke’s mother, Teresa Schnell of St. Paul, has been appointed as trustee in the pending wrongful death action.
Sheriff: Prisoner’s medical check-up done
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Friday that St. Paul police arrested Bakke on suspicion of domestic assault, during which a family member struck him over the head with a bat.
Fletcher said that before being booked into jail, Bakke was sent for evaluation to a regional hospital, where he was cleared to return to jail several hours later.
“He was examined several times by the nursing staff and correctional officers,” Fletcher said. “Shortly before the 48-hour mark, he displayed symptoms that showed he needed (to return to the field).”
In past legal incidents, sheriff’s office officials have noted that jail nurses who evaluate inmates are hired by St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health, not the sheriff’s office itself.
Reported FBI involvement
Mozuch-Stafford’s trial is currently scheduled for next January before US District Court Judge Paul Magnuson. The student said the matter has attracted the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has sent a letter to his law firm indicating that they have begun their own investigation.
“There is an FBI case number attached to this,” the student said Friday. “We were notified by a victim advocate in their Minneapolis office, and they stated that they view (Mozach-Stafford) as a potential crime victim.”
An FBI spokeswoman said Friday that she had no details to share, as public announcements come from the US Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office.
“In accordance with DOJ policy, the FBI neither confirms nor denies the existence of any investigation,” said Kirkland Byrd, a spokesman for the Minneapolis regional office.
state investigation
The Minnesota Department of Corrections announced this month that their own investigation determined that the Ramsey County Jail’s “failure to meet minimum staffing levels poses an imminent risk of life-threatening harm or serious injury to persons within the facility.”
The DOC noted that between September 2022 and January 2023, some inmates were denied care or received delayed medical attention, including a woman who had a stroke, a man who overdosed on drugs, One man was brought in after a car accident and one man who bled for two hours before being treated.
On Monday, Fletcher presented an action plan to the DOC to relocate the 60 inmates to other facilities across the state. According to the DOC, the Ramsey County Jail, which has a reported capacity of 500 inmates, is only adequately staffed for 324 inmates. The prison’s recent population was approximately 380 inmates.
Fletcher said, “The prisoners were taken on Wednesday.”
Fletcher, who raised his concerns about jail overcrowding in September, has asked the Ramsey County Board to increase its budget by more than $2 million this year to try and feed inmates. The sheriff said recruiting correctional staff remains a challenge given the national labor shortage. Furthermore, while the prison maintains a doctor on call, it does not host a full-time physician.
“I think we’re going to have more discussions on the topic of additional staff,” Fletcher said. “We have to consider advanced medical services, such as additional equipment and capacity, and potentially a doctor, at least during the day.”
