{"id":33504,"date":"2013-03-26T09:42:48","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T13:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=33504"},"modified":"2013-03-26T09:42:49","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T13:42:49","slug":"police-custody-victim-suffered-neck-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/03\/police-custody-victim-suffered-neck-injury","title":{"rendered":"Police Custody Victim Suffered \u2018Neck Injury\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/03\/police-custody-victim-suffered-neck-injury-33504.html\/police-4\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-33505\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-33505\" title=\"police\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/police.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/police.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/police-150x112.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>A man who died of asphyxia (lack of oxygen) in police custody last month suffered a neck injury, The Nassau Guardian can reveal exclusively.<\/p>\n<p>Jamie Smith, 35, of Price Street, died at the Central Detective Unit on February 8 within hours of his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Pathologist Dr. Caryn Sands found evidence of \u201cneck compression\u201d, according to an autopsy report provided by Smith\u2019s family.<\/p>\n<p>In her opinion, Sands said, \u201cA full autopsy revealed findings consistent with pressure applied to the neck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese findings included bleeding into the muscles of the front of the neck and numerous hemorrhages in the eyes, gums and larynx (throat).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese hemorrhages are due to compression of the neck blood vessels which cause the very small vessels in the eyes and mouth to rupture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPressure on the neck may also affect a structure in the neck that can induce an irregular heart beat and cause sudden death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report noted that abrasions on Smith\u2019s face, lower abdomen, wrists and ankles and scratches on his neck were recent and occurred \u201con or around the time of his death\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The circumstances of Smith\u2019s death will be investigated by a coroner\u2019s jury.<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian understands that the inquest will no longer convene on March 28.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, a new date will be set at that time.<\/p>\n<p>Four officers from the Central Detective Unit who had contact with Smith prior to his death have been placed on administrative leave.<\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s death preceded the death of 20-year-old Aaron Rolle, who died at the Southern Police Station on February 9 from a ruptured intestine caused by blunt force trauma.<\/p>\n<p>An inquest is currently underway in relation to Rolle\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>Two officers \u2014 Constable 2126 Akiel Smith and Constable 2648 Carl Smith \u2014 have testified that they used force to prevent Rolle from escaping through a second floor window.<\/p>\n<p>The custody deaths have led human rights group Amnesty International to call for independent investigations into police-<br \/>\nrelated deaths.<\/p>\n<p>According to Javier Zuniga, special advisor at Amnesty International, \u201cAuthorities in The Bahamas should seriously consider the establishment of an independent body to investigate police abuses and provide such an institution with sufficient resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would ensure not only greater efficiency in the investigations but would also help restore public confidence in the police force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>By: Artesia Davis<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #888888;\"><em>Guardian Senior Reporter <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man who died of asphyxia (lack of oxygen) in police custody, within 8 hours of his arrest, suffered a severe neck injury. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1442,1443,1185],"class_list":["post-33504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-outrageous","tag-pigs","tag-police-custody-deaths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}