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   From: black.lies.matter@abc.com   
      
   The relatives of a woman who died in police custody last year   
   are suing the police and the jail saying they negligently caused   
   the woman’s death.   
      
   Joyce Curnell, 50, died of complications from gastroenteritis,   
   the main complication of which is dehydration, at the Charleston   
   County Detention Center in South Carolina on July 22, 2015,   
   after allegedly being held for 27 hours without adequate medical   
   treatment, according to the lawsuit.   
      
   Lawyers for Curnell's relatives told ABC News that she had   
   "fallen on some hard times" when she checked into a South   
   Carolina hospital in July 2015. Curnell was suffering from   
   nausea and vomiting when she arrived at Roper St. Francis   
   Hospital, according to attorneys Scott Evans and James Moore.   
      
   Curnell's children arrived at the hospital with their mother,   
   who was a known alcoholic, according to the family's lawyers.   
   Evans said Curnell's children "talked to the physicians to see   
   if there was some legal way for her to be placed in an alcohol   
   treatment plan."   
      
   When they were informed that there was no way to force Curnell   
   to be treated for alcoholism, Evans said they made the "hard   
   decision" to turn her in to the police since they knew she had   
   an outstanding bench warrant following her lack of payments on a   
   fine from a 2011 shoplifting charge. The children hoped that   
   their mother would sober up while in police custody.   
      
   Her son's 911 call was obtained by The Post and Courier. In the   
   recording, Javon Curnell can be heard asking for law enforcement   
   to have to intervene "before I have to bury her."   
      
   "She's my mom, but I'm trying to help her, I'm trying to help   
   her, she won't listen and she's drinking a lot," he can be heard   
   saying.   
      
   "They knew there was a maximum of 30 days" that she could be   
   held by the authorities but "the likely sentence would have been   
   15 [days]," Evans said.   
      
   The Charleston County Sheriff's Office put out a statement   
   Thursday confirming that Curnell was "medically cleared for   
   release and discharged by the hospital" before being taken to   
   the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center.   
      
   In addition to the medical screening that the sheriff's office   
   reported Curnell received upon arrival, the lawsuit claims that   
   Curnell and the arresting Charleston County police officer were   
   provided with discharge instructions from the hospital advising   
   she receive "prompt attention" if she continued to experience   
   symptoms.   
      
   "I can't think of a situation when you would have more notice of   
   a medical problem than having a person booked with their   
   discharge paperwork on their person that's 15 minutes old,"   
   Evans told ABC News.   
      
   According to the lawsuit, Curnell also had a history of sickle   
   cell traits, which makes individuals more likely to be   
   dehydrated, in addition to the gastroenteritis she had been   
   suffering from at the hospital. However, it's unclear whether   
   police were informed of her medical history.   
      
   Shortly before 5:00 p.m. on the day after she was taken into   
   custody, she was found "unresponsive in her bed," according to   
   the sheriff's office.   
      
   State investigators looked into the death and found the cause to   
   be natural, the sheriff's office said in a press release, but   
   Curnell's family disagrees.   
      
   "This is not a situation in which Joyce needed access to cutting   
   edge medical care to save her life. She needed fluids and the   
   attention of a doctor. Not only has nobody been prosecuted in   
   connection with Joyce’s death, it does not appear that any   
   employee has even been reprimanded," Evans said in a press   
   release.   
      
   Now, the family has also filed a notice of intent to sue for   
   medical malpractice against the medical contractor at the   
   detention center, in addition to the separate lawsuit they have   
   already brought against Charleston County and the Charleston   
   County Sheriff's Office.   
      
   In that notice of intent to file suit against Carolina Center   
   for Occupational Health, the lawyers claim “there are no records   
   or statements to support that she … was offered oral hydration   
   or IV hydration to prevent dehydration.”   
      
   The family's notice of intent to sue includes an affidavit of   
   Dr. Maria V. Gibson, a medical expert who writes, "Simply put   
   Ms. Curnell died because she was deprived of water. She was too   
   sick to tolerate the dehydration as a result of acute   
   gastroenteritis.”   
      
   The attorneys working for Curnell's estate said they expect the   
   two suits to be merged at a later date. They say they will also   
   likely file a civil rights action in federal court.   
      
   http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-woman-died-dehydration-police-   
   custody/story?id=37227196   
         
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)