NO GESTAPO

Paul Peck, 25.02.2008 00:01

The article is in 2 parts. The first part is a case to demonstrate that the Death of Mario Mallet in Police Custody in 2001 was most reasonably and logically due to the intentional assault of Mario Mallet by Officer Lutz by the intentional misuse of a heart defribrillator. This explaination is the only available explaination that is consistent with all facts of the investigation and the medical literature. The Official cause of an "Accidental" stress induced Sudden Cardiac Death is simply not possible based upon Medical-legal autopsy studies. The second part of the article explains a list of measures needed in milwaukee at various level of government to deter such actions from occuring in the future. The needed reforms to our city, county and state can help focus on solutions to the problem of police misconduct in the future, and deter future civil rights violations at the hands of police.

We CAN stop police misconduct

The week the Coroner announced his findings on the death of Mario Mallet, I was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. I consulted with specialists, medical librarians and archivists. My research found Applicable medical literature regarding Sudden Cardiac Death showing that there was always a pre-existing condition of 20-30 years of prior chronic heart disease, except in one case where the victim demonstrated symptoms of a panic/phobia disorder. Other Literature on panic/phobia disorders show the same disposition to Sudden Cardiac Death as those with Chronic Disease and also requires 20-30 years of progression, usually with a history of annual hospitalizations to treat an episode. Mallet also demonstrated as per police testimony behavior inconsistent with panic/phobia disorders. I researched the possibility that Mallets past cocaine use could have exposed him to a higher risk of Sudden Cardiac Death. This possibility was not supported in the medical literature, and mallets past incarcerations document periods of substantial abstinence. Without prerequisite coronary damage or a documented medical condition of 20-30 years of causing progressive coronary stress or without birth defects of the heart chamber or valves, Mario Mallet could not have died from a sudden cardiac death that was stress induced unless it was intentional. Defibrillating a healthy heart with a defibrillator such as was in the police van at the time would cause a stress induced sudden cardiac death without prerequisite damage. The officer in charge of the police van who was trained in use of the defibrillator was reported to have had the 3rd highest amounts of use of force reports of any officer on the Milwaukee police department at the time of mallets death, 26 of those incidents involving pepper spray. Pepper spraying a healthy heart while attached to a defibrillator would circumvent the safety protocols that would prevent a lethal shock to a healthy subject and consistent with what was known about the history of the officer in charge of the van where Mallet died. Intentional misuse of a defibrillator by the police against Mario Mallet is the only explanation that is consistent with all findings of the case and the medical literature as well. I would like to discuss with you some specifics of the death of Mario Mallet. First, lets recap the incident: MARIO MALLET http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jan02/9708.asp Mario Mallet died immediately following the dismissal of Chief Jones Press agent and when the chief was on vacation. The coroner report said there was no disease or toxicology that contributed to Mario Mallets Sudden Cardiac Death. This is not consistent with medical literature on stress induced SCD. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4741 Next, lets look at Sudden Cardiac Death. Sudden Cardiac Death is NOT a heart attack. It is an electrical disruption of the heart that leads to recursive structural instability from disruptions along the calcium and other ion channels. Sudden Cardiac Death is usually prequelled by a birth defect in the heart chambers or valves. In cases where there is no deformity, the medical literature shows that even when chronic heart disease was unknown, pre-requisite coronary damage of 20-30 years is always discovered at autopsy. Consequently, victims of SCD without structural birth defects of the heart are usually 60-80 years old as about 25 years of chronic disease is needed prior to a stress induced SCD. As Mario Mallet was in his early 30s, had no coronary disease or structural defects found at autopsy, and no chronic stress inducing condition such as a panic disorder (medical literature shows panic disorders with 20 years of history effect the heart as profoundly as blockages), his circumstances for an accidental stress induced sudden cardiac death approach a near statistical impossibility. let us review medical literature ignored by the county coroner in his conclusion: (Stressful events as a trigger of sudden death: a study of 43 medico-legal autopsy cases Dominique Lecomtea, *, Paul Fornesb and Guy Nicolasc a Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Paris (V) and Institute of Forensic Medicine of Paris, 2, place Mazas 75012 Paris France b Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Paris (V) 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques 75014 Paris France c Department of Cardiology, HÙpital G. et R. LaÎnnec Nantes France Received 16 February 1995; revised 20 September 1995; accepted 31 October 1995. Available online 2 March 1999. ) In this report, even when heart disease was not expected to be found in cases of Sudden Cardiac death, it always was except in one case when a woman died during a panic attack upon receiving news of her husbands' ill health. In this report however, there is one case of a woman where there was no chronic disease, deformities or blockages at autopsy. The stress induction took place in a hospital waiting room immediately when the older woman was told her husbands health took a turn for the worst. By all accounts of this unique case in the survey, the on-set of the stress induction showed clinical symptoms of a panic disorder. Medical literature shows that persons with chronic phobia/panic disorders statistically have the same rates of Sudden Cardiac Death as persons with coronary disease. Such studies showed this to be true with persons with such disorders so significant that they require on average 2 hospitalizations or medical treatment in the wake of such panic attacks and have the condition with a 20-30 year progression. The one exception in this report is consistent with Sudden Cardiac Death by those with chronic panic disorders. There is nothing in mallets medical history to show such significant panic disorders and since he was about 30, he was too young to have the chronic build up of effects. I also explored Mr. Mallets past cocaine use as possibly having damaged his ion channels. While Sudden Cardiac Death is not uncommon while under the influence of Cocaine, it seems that past use does not seem to increase the likelihood of SCD in the future. Also, given Mr. Mallets convictions and jail time for cocaine offenses, there is documented periods of abstinence inherent in his periods of incarceration. This would lessen the effects of his past cocaine use being a factor in this incident. (I tried to disprove my theory as well as establish my case). A few years ago, Courtney Hilton of Lebanon Tennessee was accidentally killed with a heart defibrillator by a fellow EMT. She was in her mid-20's and suffered from conditions that resembled a sudden cardiac death. A comparison of her demise and mallets autopsy was not available at the time of mallets death by the coroner, but can be available now to examine the likelihood of mallets death by foul play. A few years prior to Ms. Hiltons death, a child was killed in a south side housing project in Chicago after the children gained access to an AED, and began to play with it. In the course of their horse play, the safety protocols were not effective in preventing a lethal application of electricity. This death also presented itself as a stress induced sudden cardiac death without scaring on the heart tissue due to the rapid onset of the coronary recursion. These are test cases to show that your findings of Mr. Mallets Sudden Cardiac death would have appeared to you as a stress induced sudden cardiac death. Without a survey of medical literature or a statistical study of the victim (SCD almost never happens to someone so young), it may be understandable that one may not further question if the stress induction itself was accidental or intentional. Statistical studies of the victim show accidental stress induction to be a ludicrous notion and the medical literature confirms this. Sudden Cardiac Death is an electrical failure of the heart, not a heart attack. Heart Defibrillators apply several hundred joules of electricity directly to the heart muscles, the same amount of energy as shooting a person point blank in the chest. Defibrillators were installed in police vans by chief Jones at the time of Mario mallets death. http://aedhelp.com/disclosure_aed.cfm Automatic defibrillators have a safety subroutine to prevent a lethal shock to a healthy heart. This routine simply looks for sudden change in heart activity regardless of the type of change that actually occurs. A person with a healthy heart, hooked up to an AED, and blasted with pepper spray would be sufficient to over ride the safety subroutine and expose the person to the a lethal shock. As you know, mallet was sprayed with pepper spray prior to his death and Lutz, the officer in the van who was given an AED only a few weeks before had 26 incidents of use of force with pepper spray when mallet died. A claim of Intentional misuse of a defibrillator against Mario mallet is contrary to the testimony of officers who also claimed they strapped mallet in the van with a seat belt even though an internal probe by the department disciplined the officers finding their testimony contrary to fact. Intentional misuse of a defibrillator is the only explanation that is consistent with the D.A.'s investigation, the Coroners explanation, and the witnesses produced by the journal sentinel. It was never considered by the D.A.'s office, the journal sentinel, or the coroner. Mario Mallet had called his mother for a ride home and was expecting her to arrive shortly before he was intervened upon by officers rendering their testimony against him doubtful and no inquest of mallets death was ever fully completed. http://milwaukee.indymedia.org/en/2005/03/202917.shtml I do not believe it is rational to ignore the possibility that officers who where hired without psychological testing may have been disgruntled about internal department politics enough to seek out a victim to sadistically torture and possibly kill when Chief Jones was on vacation and 24 hours after his press officer was fired by the common council.... forcing an undue delay in a release of information to the public which would significantly assail the politics of Chief Jones.....or even an assault to fulfill naught but pure sociopathic recreational violence. In addition, since I believe I have shown it reasonable to conclude that the stress induction of Mr. mallets sudden cardiac death could not have been accidental, and his death differs no more than an old fashioned lynching that simply replaced the noose with a defibrillator.... It is my belief that my speaking out on Mario mallets death may be the only deterrent to prevent future attacks of this type....that my being vocal will not allow this dastardly deed to repeat itself with impunity from the legitimate authorities. The backgrounds of the Police Officers was vouched for by the fact they were currently on the service rolls, and one would assume officers in good standing....Thus, the overall lack of meaningful police oversight at the State, County, and City levels of government and their lack of an annual civil rights plan is an issue the coroners office needs to ethically take a stand on to improve. Below is a compilation of issues I believe have special impact on the community and call for real and tangible measures for their address. Fortunately, real and tangible measures to address the issues of Police Misconduct do exist and are practiced with measurable results elsewhere in the United States today. The issue of Crime Prevention in the City of Milwaukee is of Top Priority to the City of Milwaukee. Our history of Police Misconduct is often eclipsed by this issue when in fact, the two are intertwined. A corrupt officer deters no crime, and needs crime to exist in order to serve as a context for his or her misconduct. The issues of hiring more officers and of officer Overtime have been persistent in our community. These are issues of efficiency and how best to employ available resources. A small group of corrupt officers, if tolerated, can impair the police culture of our city as a whole and significantly decrease efficiency of using available resources for law enforcement. Scotland Yard takes a philosophically different view of Police Misconduct than is administrated in the United States. While studies by the Justice Department show the majority of police misconduct occurs by a minority of officers, Scotland Yard points out that in all of history, there has never been a crime free society or organization, and misconduct occurs at all levels….not only in an isolated substructure that can be weeded out. Case in Point, Our last Chief Hegerty fired Captain Frankovis for misconduct after he issued a memo calling for all officers in the Department to willfully misuse their police powers following a publicized shooting by Officer Lutz. Captain Frankovis was a final candidate 4 years ago to become Chief of the entire department. Although the greatest number of complaints against officers are often generated by a minority of officers in a department, even this can have influences of misconduct beyond an isolated group. Chief Flynn himself has publicly stated he wishes "to see how much can be accomplished with the officers" he already has before he requests more officers. I believe this is a prudent judgment on his part, but also believe his ability to achieve greater efficiency with available resources raises the issue of meaningfully addressing police misconduct as a priority on par with all other law enforcement agendas in Milwaukee. The issue of an incomplete early intervention system in Milwaukee is very important: The advantages of an Early Intervention System are that it demonstrates problematic behavior before officers are likely to seriously offend It differentiates the difference between an chronic offender verses an officer who's performance suffered due to personal problems such as a divorce or family crisis it typically can offer supportive corrections instead of discipline which can promote a police culture where instead of hiding misconduct, officers can report such incidents confident their peers can get access to social services they need. It identifies chronic offenders before significant incidents occur. Since as much as 80% of a departments complaints come from less than 7% of its officers, this is the most serious source of misconduct. Officers who have given indication of problematic behavior are scrutinized for long periods of time and encouraged to improve their behavior....this can be a more efficient use of internal department resources, and make it more difficult for a chronic offender to abuse the public with impunity. It will reduce civil rights offenses and law suits against the city. It will improve police community relations by identifying what is needed to support police officers who's performance lapses due to personal life circumstances by helping define the chronic offending officers it will reform police culture to positively promote integrity. I believe an early intervention system is long overdue for Milwaukee. Although such a system has just come on line, and training commenced, what is proposed for Milwaukee is substandard. The early intervention system that has been established is woefully inadequate. It tracks only Use of Force and it only does so for 6 months. I have found no other city anywhere in the country that tracks misconduct for such a short period of time. The U.S. Justice Department has studied thousands of cities for their effectiveness of implementing an early intervention system. No city anywhere else tracks indicators for less than 12 month with 18 months being common. The Milwaukee Early Intervention system must be expanded to an 18 month monitoring phase to be on par with national practices elsewhere with less than 12 months not commonly practiced in cities even one tenth our size. In addition, EIS need to have comprehensive indicators. These usually at least include the following: Use of Force Citizen Complaints High Speed Pursuits Resisting Arrest Incidents Vehicle Damage Use of Sick Days\ Fire Arms Discharge Civil Litigation against individual officers (including filings and dismissed cases at State and Federal Level) The fact that most cities have several indicators of problematic behavior with those listed above being most common, Milwaukee's system tracks ONLY use of force which is contrary to the basic philosophy of an EIS which is to look for several factors to detect problematic behavior. The issue of resisting arrest is important because the State DOJ found a statistically unjustified increase in Milwaukee in 2001 that was significant and it is a known national problem to cover up police misconduct and one that is known to statistically occur in Wisconsin as per Wis. DOJ statistics. This is ignored in the Milwaukee System. In many cities, 2 citizen complaints over a period of 12 or 18 months flags the officer for professional intervention and monitoring that typically goes on for about 3 years. Milwaukee typically will point to officers who have racked up an average of 2 citizen complaints per year, and claim that because they were not sustained, the officer is innocent, even though such conduct reflects substandard professionalism and such an officer would have been subject to continued scrutiny and mandated to improve performance in order to keep his or her job. Milwaukee has not implemented such national common standards. Milwaukee's EIS lasts only 6 months and tracks Use of Force only. No other city in the country has established such a substandard Early Intervention System as per U.S. DOJ studies on the effectiveness of such systems. I do not believe an elected oversight board is a good idea. This is primarily from the work of Human Rights watch from their national report in 1998 titled Shielded from Justice (http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/). Their survey of cities similar to Milwaukee found political considerations to be very influential in allowing police misconduct to operate. The influence of the Milwaukee Police Association can be seen in the insufficient early intervention system that has been established in Milwaukee as most of the curtailments have resulted from talks between the Union and the City without consideration of what will make the most effective police department for its citizens.. The Milwaukee Police Association which has lobbied an effort to make our early intervention system completely impotent. Here are some issues that need to be established at various levels of government here in Wisconsin. State Statute 164 forbids police officers suspected of having committed a crime from being interrogated or tried in Court in the same manner as other citizens, offering police advantages at every point in the legal process expressly denied to any other citizen. This “Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights” must be made to apply to everyone or it must be revoked and apply to no one….allowing equal protection of the law to exist in our state. The state of Wisconsin does not have an office of civil rights, We have no ability to investigate misconduct in local departments at the state level, We have no ability to certify and revoke certification of officers at the state level for misconduct, We have no unification of service records to prevent "gypsy cops" (abusive officers who leave one department to go to another to hide records of past misconduct), We have no mandates for cities to instigate Early Intervention Systems (a recommendation by the Federal Office of Civil Rights 16 years ago), The state does not require psychological testing for law enforcement positions but the city of Milwaukee first instigated psychological testing of officers (a 30 year old standard practice) only after the 2005 beating of Frank Jude. We have no independent investigators assigned to the fire and police commissions as is common practice nationally and a recommendation given to the city of Milwaukee. We have no public disclosure of investigation of police misconduct as is practiced in other communities (see for example: http://www.boiseombudsman.org/ http://www.boiseombudsman.org/InvestigativeReports2007.aspx http://www.boiseombudsman.org/AnnualReportsMenu.aspx ) (The Fire and Police Commission has recently explored mechanisms of greater transparency and has been in dialog with Boise and other places around the country. The Boise model offers immediate accessible data that is meaningful, but could still be improved by specifically tracking officers who repetitively offend). I thank you for considering these points.

e-mail:: paul.peck@gmail.com