Lawyers say woman, 50, died after being ‘deprived of water’ at Charleston County jail

[KamaAina]

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160224/PC16/160229636

A woman who was arrested at a hospital over the summer for failing to pay court fines died the next day because she was deprived of water at the Charleston County jail, her family’s attorneys said Wednesday.

Joyce Curnell, 50, of Edisto Island was found dead in the jail shortly before 5 p.m. July 22, a day after being taken from Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, where she had been treated for a stomach illness.

She spent the last 27 hours of her life behind bars. During that time she became too sick to eat or call for help, according to court documents filed this week. She vomited all night and couldn’t make it to a bathroom, so jailers gave her a trash bag. Some medical staffers ignored the jail officials’ requests to tend to her, the documents alleged....

“Providing access to reasonable medical care to those under police custody is a necessity, not a privilege,” he said. “It is a constitutional right. We are committed to seeking justice for Joyce and for her family.”

Do you even have to ask?

[WhiteTara]

1. RIP Joyce

[Solly Mack]

2. I'd call that murder.

Depraved indifference.

You don't just take someone from a hospital, especially someone who is seeking medical care, throw them in jail, and then pretend you didn't know they were in need of medical attention.

You don't get to say, "I didn't know", or "No one knew it was that serious", or any other bullshit excuse.

It's no accident when you deny medical care to someone who is arrested in a hospital while seeking medical care.

. A doctor prescribed medication for the headache and nausea, but the documents alleged that the staffers didn’t follow the hospital doctor’s recommendations.

Instead of staying in the jail’s medical facility, Curnell was taken to a housing unit. Jail officers reported later that she vomited “through the night” and “couldn’t make it to the bathroom,” the documents stated. They gave her a trash bag.

The jailers said they informed the medical staff of Curnell’s condition, but the experts “refused to provide any medical attention to (her) whatsoever,” the court documents stated.

[malaise]

3. I just knew Joyce was

African-American. Why would someone be taken out of hospital and put in jail?