Paisley Grand Jury
Death of Omar Paisley, June 9, 2003: DJJ IG Report and Grand Jury Report Paisley Time Line - Tallahassee Democrat, Feb 27, 2004 |
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04/14/04
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Ten Major Steps Taken to Resolve Issues at Miami Dade Regional Juvenile Detention New Management Team Introduced 03/28/04
DJJ pays activist $200,000 ''Given DJJ's recent woes, it's unfathomable that they would be on this kind of frolic,'' said state Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat who is on the Select Committee on Juvenile Detention Centers that is investigating the department. "They are having trouble keeping people in their custody alive..." Bob Dillinger, Pinellas County public defender and a critic of the youth corrections agency, said the contract had all the earmarks of a sweetheart deal. ''If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck,'' he said. "A duck that smells.'' 03/27/04
Making DJJ safe It happens so frequently, we've almost come to expect it: state leaders in crisis circling the wagons instead of admitting problems and changing course. Gov. Bush's attitude toward correcting the Department of Juvenile Justice's problems is encouraging. Now he must back it up with a commitment of financial and human resources. top03/21/04
Chief of Omar Paisley probe long a champion for children Miami Beach Rep. Gustavo Barreiro has asked a lot of questions over the past nine months, and he hasn't always liked the answers. As head of a House committee investigating the June death of 17-year-old Omar Paisley, Barreiro often encountered what he deemed stonewalling by state bureaucrats. Other times his committee inched closer to the truth, but those moments were also troubling, considering what the truth was: Paisley, an inmate at a Miami juvenile lockup, died a preventable death after suffering appendicitis. He was denied access to a doctor for three days, even as he spent his last hours weeping and moaning for help, curled up on filthy sheets. ''The more we looked into it,'' Barreiro recalled, ``the more disturbing it was.'' Rather than a stuffy forum filled with policy debates and government-speak, the committee's meetings have been dominated by emotional, courtroom-style drama. Barreiro and other lawmakers took on the role of prosecutors, grilling top DJJ brass on the agency's failings. When committee members felt they were receiving evasive answers, their tone became angry and confrontational. 03/21/04
Omar's guard made mistakes, but he cared [Fmr JDO Terry] Mixon finally became so angry and frustrated that the nurses hadn't arrived that he got on his radio and screamed for a nurse and a supervisor, and didn't stop until they showed up. It would take several more hours before the nurse agreed to send Omar to the hospital and for the supervisors to devise a plan for taking him there. By then it was too late. Omar was dead. Omar's death demanded that those responsible be held accountable. And most of those who were fired or forced to resign deserved to go. But his memory would also be well served if there were more guards like Mixon left on duty to honor it. Re: Omar's guard cared enough to SCREAM for help This is such a sad, sad story. It is nice to read, however about someone (and maybe a few others) who did truly care but were limited in what they COULD do by the BUREAUCRACY of the Juvenile Justice System ... and the key word here is JUSTICE ? ~ mc 03/13/04
Witness said to be 'terrified' at work ''These are the type of people who are watching our kids,'' Dominguez told The Herald on Friday. ``God forbid my own child ended up there. I see what goes on. I would not want my child treated the way some of those kids are treated. That's the way I look at it.'' On Thursday, Dominguez was told to ''keep [her] mouth shut,'' to ''be careful when [she's] alone,'' and ''something is going to happen to you,'' Dominguez said. ''She is very terrified, and her world has been shaken,'' Barreiro said. ``She was so scared she actually wrote a letter to a friend telling her what to do if anything should happen to her, and how to take care of her children.'' Barreiro said he has heard from other department employees who want to discuss improprieties, but many are too afraid to come forward. Several officials have testified only under subpoenas. ``The culture is deep enough there that people are afraid.'' 03/12/04
Suicide attempts rock agency again "You do not lock up a kid who needs psychiatric care," said Gus Garcia-Montes, the boy's lawyer. `It was a cry for help.'" Said state Rep. Gustavo "Gus" Barreiro: "I'm scared for the kids who are inside that detention center. I think it's an unsafe facility." 03/11/04
State questions records at juvenile center George Denman, interim secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, appeared at a news conference to outline plans for eliminating the "callous, complacent" attitude that allowed the death of 17-year-old Omar Paisley last June. Denman said he would institute new training and hiring procedures and take other steps to prevent a recurrence of a tragedy that has shaken the department and toppled its leadership. "It may take a little while to change this, but we can change it, and we will change it," he said. Denman said his most important goal was to reform the department's culture to make employees take responsibility and help children in their care. "You can put all the policies in place you want, and audit all you want, but until people decide to do the right thing and take proactive measures to protect our children, it won't make any difference," he said. "We're going to address that very vigorously and very thoroughly."
03/11/04
Worker: Guards falsified reports on teen The Miami-Dade juvenile lockup, where Omar Paisley died of a burst appendix that went untreated, was jolted by a new allegation Wednesday: that guards falsified documents relating to another inmate's attempted suicide last week. DJJ Deputy Secretary Francisco ''Frank'' Alarcon, a lightning rod for lawmakers' disgust with the agency, went on extended leave -- the latest of several high-ranking administrators to bow out. Alarcon is not expected to return. 03/09/04
CASE FALLOUT Juvenile Justice keeps on cleaning house Expressing outrage over the failure of employees to act properly as a teen slowly died of a burst appendix at the Miami lockup last June, the interim chief of Florida's embattled Juvenile Justice agency suspended 14 people Monday. The suspensions, which follow the release Monday of a 221-page investigative report, are the latest actions in a widespread housecleaning at the Department of Juvenile Justice in the wake of the June 9 death of Omar Paisley, a 17-year-old Opa-locka youth detained on an aggravated battery charge. top03/07/04
Teen inmate's death like a modern-day crucifixion The seven boxes sit neatly on a table in the downtown Miami office of a legal printing firm. They are labeled "Death of Omar Paisley." The boxes sit silently, but they scream. The bureaucratic aftershocks have been felt all the way to Tallahassee. The head of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Bill Bankhead, recently announced, without irony, that he was taking a four-month medical leave.
02/27/04
Ill youth died amid chaos, confusion Seven boxes of previously unreleased documents tell of the chaos that enveloped the Miami juvenile lockup as Omar Paisley's life slipped away. ''Policies and procedures killed Omar Paisley,'' a Miami-Dade guard testified before lawmakers last week. ''Man, someone needs to get down here, because this kid is sick,'' one officer beseeched a supervisor over the telephone. But a supervisor scolded Paisley to ''suck it up'' -- ignore the pain -- while a nurse declared, ''Ain't nothing wrong with his ass.'' Paisley, his belly filling with poisons from a ruptured appendix, may have paid for their callousness with his life. Paralyzed by fear, trained to eschew independent thought or action, officers took no action until a supervisor finally showed up at Paisley's cell with a wheelchair, handcuffs and shackles. Feeling no pulse, they stopped short of handcuffing a dead child. ''Policies and procedures killed Omar Paisley,'' a Miami-Dade guard testified before lawmakers last week. |
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Time for change We, the grand jurors, cannot bear the thought of another child suffering unbearably and slipping through the cracks in our system. . . . It is a heartfelt plea, from 21 ordinary people, to the highest leaders of this state. It is one that must be heard, for the sake of justice. The grand jury report includes reform recommendations that lawmakers should seriously consider -- most importantly, adding an independent inspector general. For the full text of this editorial of Feb. 3, 2004 in the The Daytona News-Journal, click here. |
Jeb, it's time for Bill to go! Bill Bankhead is the leader of this deficient system. He is clearly inadequate, indifferent and disconnected. Click here to read the full text of Cathy Corry's letter to Gov. Bush of Feb.2, 2004
Grand Jury Indictment provided by The Miami Herald |
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A Lying Larry Lumpee? 'Thus,
we concluded that the legislative testimony of Mr. Lumpee failed to
accurately portray the reality of the situation at the MDRJDC.' ~Final
Report of the Miami-Dade Grand Jury
Excerpts: 'We carefully watched the legislative hearings pertaining to the death of Omar Paisley. In the course of these hearings, we scrutinized the testimony of Larry Lumpee, Assistant Secretary [Detention] of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Mr Lumpee stated that each detention officer was capable of dialing 911 directly from any given facility in the event of an emergency. The Facility Operating Procedures in place in the MDRJDC indicate to the contrary. We heard compelling testimony regarding the fear of detention workers to defy their chain of command and to reach out to outside agencies. We learned of specific instruction communicated by the Superintendent of the facility to staff members prohibiting them from contacting external agencies without specific prior Superintendent approval. Thus, we concluded that the legislative testimony of Mr. Lumpee failed to accurately portray the reality of the situation at the MDRJDC.' "...the grand jury noted in frustration that the state Department of Juvenile Justice is immune to criminal indictments." Daytona News-Journal
Grand Jury Indictment provided by The Miami Herald |
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Two nurses facing
murder charges surrender Wednesday morning Carol Marbin Miller, The Miami Herald, Jan. 28, 2004 Florida lawmakers said they will seek legislation to reform a juvenile justice agency grand jurors said was plagued by ``incompetence, ambivalence and negligence.'' "State Rep. Gustavo ''Gus'' Barreiro, a Miami Republican, said it would be a mistake, however, to assume the responsibility for Omar's death rests with the two nurses. An investigative committee Barreiro chairs has been taking testimony about conditions in the state's 25 lockups, and Barreiro believes the state's juvenile justice system is broken. ''Omar was not remanded to the `department of nursing','' Barreiro said. ``He was remanded to the Department of Juvenile Justice. When officers saw the nurses were not doing their jobs, someone should have stepped up to the plate. That would have saved Omar's life, most likely.'' Excerpts from the Grand Jury report: 'we discovered that we were united in our outrage over the death of Omar Paisley' 'one can never measure the cost of human life in taxpayer money'
Grand Jury Indictment provided by The Miami Herald
1/29/04
Lawmakers: Teen's death unforgivable 1/29/04
Jail nurses indicted in boy's death surrender 1/28/04
Two nurses charged with murder... |
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FINAL
REPORT OF THE MIAMI-DADE GRAND JURY - Spring 2003 - INVESTIGATION INTO
THE DEATH OF OMAR PAISLEY AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE
MIAMI-DADE REGIONAL JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER 
Omar Paisley
June 10, 2003 Teen dies at Miami-Dade JDC after languishing in pain!
DJJ fails to provide medical assistance!
 | August 9, 2003 Jailer's suspension demanded: committee formed..., Scott Andron, Miami Herald | |
| August 7, 2003
The Death of Omar Paisley: It could have been prevented, Editorial,
Miami Herald
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| August 3, 2003 Children in jail are still children, Jim DeFede, Commentary, Miami Herald | |
| August 3, 2003
Lockup officer has record of reprimands Teen died while he was in charge Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald | |
| June 27, 2003 Statement by Secretary W.G. "Bill" Bankhead regarding...investigation of June 9th death of a detainee, Department of Juvenile Justice | |
| June 21, 2003 Youth's guards asked for help, Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald | |
| June 14, 2003
Youth died after being ignored, friend says; Juvenile detainee's death
being probed Carol Marbin Miller Miami Herald | |
| June 10, 2003: Agency statement regarding death... Department of Juvenile Justice | |
| June 10, 2003: Teen death at Miami-Dade JDC Miami Herald |
