The death of a person who is incarcerated often raises public concern, family inquiries, and media attention, and such deaths require special handling. The careful investigation of deaths of individuals held in the custody of the corrections system is necessary not only to discover any evidence of abuse, but moreover to ensure that the custodians are cleared of any false allegations of mistreatment. The same logic applies to use-of-force cases resulting in inmate injury but not fatality, in which inmate and correctional officers’ accounts of the events may be incongruous. The forensic pathologist is indispensible in both situations. The purpose of this article is to consider all aspects of the inmate's uniquely vulnerable situation relevant to the forensic pathologist, to review the various types of disease, injury and death occurring in the incarcerated and their relative prevalence, to present a 4.5-year retrospective review of inmate death investigations, and to describe best practices to be utilized in the medicolegal investigation of deaths of incarcerated individuals.
OswaldR.G.Attica–my story.Garden City (NY): Doubleday; 1972. 418 p.
2.
WickerT.A time to die.New York: New York Times Book Co; 1975. 342 p.
3.
BadenM.M., HennesseeJ.A.Unnatural death - confessions of a medical examiner.New York: Ballantine Books; c1989. Chapter 12, Attica; p. 207–15.
4.
N.Y. COR. LAW § 47 Functions, powers and duties of the board.
5.
N.Y. CNT. LAW § 674. Manner of investigation.
6.
N.Y. PBH. LAW § 4210-c. Limitations to dissection or autopsy.
7.
N.Y. COR. LAW § 16. Expense of autopsy; state charge.
8.
18 U.S.C. 4045. Authority to conduct autopsies.
9.
DiMaioD.Deaths in prison. Paper presented at: Annual meeting, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Pathology/Biology Section; 1979 Feb; New Orleans, LA.
10.
LanphearB.P.Deaths in custody in Shelby County, Tennessee, January 1970-July 1985.Am J Forensic Med Pathol.1987 Dec; 8(4): 299–301.
11.
FrostR., HanzlickR.Deaths in custody. Atlanta City Jail and Fulton County Jail, 1974–1985.Am J Forensic Med Pathol.1988 Sep; 9(3): 207–11.
12.
CopelandA.R.Deaths in custody revisited.Am J Forensic Med Pathol.1984 Jun; 5(2): 121–4.
13.
SmialekJ.E., SpitzW.U.Death behind bars.JAMA.1978 Dec 1; 240(23): 2563–4.
14.
NoonanM.E., CarsonE.A.Prison and jail deaths in custody, 2000–2009 – statistical tables [Internet].Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2011 Dec [cited 2014 Jul 28]. 32 p. Available from: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pjdc0009st.pdf.
15.
FazelS., SeewaldK.Severe mental illness in 33,588 prisoners worldwide: systematic review and meta-regression analysis.Br J Psychiatry.2012 May; 200(5): 364–73.
16.
FazelS., BaillargeonJ.The health of prisoners.Lancet.2011 Mar 12; 377(9769): 956–65.
17.
HawtonK., LinsellL., AdenijiT.. Self-harm in prisons in England and Wales: an epidemiological study of prevalence, risk factors, clustering, and subsequent suicide.Lancet.2014 Mar 29; 383(9923): 1147–54.
18.
AustinA., Van den HeuvelC., ByardR.W.Prison suicides in South Australia: 1996–2010.J Forensic Sci.2014 Mar 18. [Epub ahead of print]
19.
KrinskyC.S., LathropS.L., BrownP., NolteK.Drugs, detention, and death: a study of the mortality of recently released prisoners.Am J Forensic Med Pathol.2009 Mar; 30(1): 6–9.
20.
LarneyS., GisevN., FarrellM.. Opioid substitution therapy as a strategy to reduce deaths in prison: retrospective cohort study.BMJ Open.2014; 4(4): e004666.
21.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol – Utah 2011.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.2012 Oct 5; 61(39): 782–4.
22.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Notes from the field: botulism from drinking prison-made illicit alcohol – Arizona, 2012.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.2013 Feb 8; 62(5): 88.
23.
WilliamsB.T., SchelinS.M., CaravatiE.M.. Emergency department identification and critical care management of a Utah prison botulism outbreak.Ann Emerg Med.2014 Jul; 64(1): 26–31.
24.
RossiR., SuadoniF., PieroniL.. Two cases of acute propane/butane poisoning in prison.J Forensic Sci.2012 May; 57(3): 832–4.
25.
BinswangerI.A., KruegerP.M., SteinerJ.F.Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among jail and prison inmates in the USA compared with the general population.J Epidemiol Community Health.2009 Nov; 63(11): 912–9.
26.
HarzkeA.J., BaillargeonJ.G., PruittS.L.. Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among inmates in the Texas prison system.J Urban Health.2010 May; 87(3): 486–503.
27.
WilperA.P., WoolhandlerS., BoydJ.W.. The health and health care of U.S. prisoners: results of a nationwide survey.Am J Public Health.2009 Apr; 99(4): 666–72.
28.
BrittainJ., AxelrodG., VentersH.Deaths in New York City jails, 2001–2009.Am J Public Health.2013 Apr; 103(4): 638–40.
29.
MaruschakL.M.HIV in prisons, 2001–2010 [Internet].Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2012 Sep [cited 2014 Jul 28]. 11 p. Available from: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/hivp10.pdf
30.
GoughE., KempfM.C., GrahamL.. HIV and hepatitis B and C incidence rates in US correctional populations and high risk groups: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC Public Health.2010 Dec 21; 10: 777.
31.
VaranA.K., MercerD.W., SteinM.S., SpauldingA.C.Hepatitis C seroprevalence among prison inmates since 2001: still high but declining.Public Health Rep.2014 Mar-Apr; 129(2): 187–95.
32.
MacNeilJ.R., LobatoM.N., MooreM.An unanswered health disparity: tuberculosis among correctional inmates, 1993 through 2003.Am J Public Health.2005 Oct; 95(10): 1800–5.
33.
PeelM.Hunger strikes.BMJ.1997 Oct 4; 315(7112): 829–30.
34.
DoughertyS.M., LeaningJ., GreenoughP.G., BurkleF.M.Hunger strikers: ethical and legal dimensions of medical complexity in torture at Guantanamo Bay.Prehosp Disaster Med.2013 Dec; 28(6): 616–24.
35.
AltunG., AkansuB., AltunB.U.. Deaths due to hunger strike: post-mortem findings.Forensic Sci Int.2004 Nov 10; 146(1): 35–8.
36.
KnightB., SaukkoP.Knight's forensic pathology.3rd ed.Boca Raton: CRC Press; c2004. Chapter 10, Abuse of human rights: deaths in custody; p. 301–11.
37.
Department of Homeland Security.Standards to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and assault in confinement facilities. Final rule.Fed Regist.2014 Mar 7; 79(45): 13099–183.
38.
RichtersJ., ButlerT., SchneiderK.. Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons.Arch Sex Behav.2012 Apr; 41(2): 517–24.
39.
HensleyC., KoscheskiM., TewksburyR.Examining the characteristics of male sexual assault targets in a Southern maximum-security prison.J Interpers Violence.2005 Jun; 20(6): 667–79.
40.
DolinakD., MatshesE., LewE.Forensic pathology principles and practice.1st ed.San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press; c2005. Chapter 13, Death in custody; p. 297–316.
41.
HissJ., KahanaT.Medicolegal investigation of death in custody: a postmortem procedure for detection of blunt force injuries.Am J Forensic Med Pathol.1996 Dec; 17(4): 312–4.
42.
BruceA.Hyma. Autopsies on prison inmates/legislation. In: NAME-L Listserv [Internet].Marceline (MO): National Association of Medical Examiners; 2014 Jul 25 [cited 2014 Jul 28].
