pepper spray death of Danny Dunn
Twislok
Bakersfield Education Center for Native Indians
1830 Truxtun Ave. #100
Bakersfield, Ca. 93301
Purpose: To discuss the pepper spray death of
Danny Dunn who was connected to the new book
Mean Justice this past Friday. The UNION will
take action and not let this death pass unnoticed
if the turn out and participation is large.
Everyone concerned about injustice in Kern County
is urged to attend including police brutality organizations,
and others willing to join in with the UNION for an appeal
to the United Nations around inhumane treatment of
prisoners and injustice in general.
Our Executive Board is composed of all races united
in the Democratic party for now. This meeting is open
to the general public, no refreshments and no charge.
It's a no frills action planning meeting.
We will also expand letter campaigns around our other two
Calls to Action in Kern County.
One current Call to Action is massive letter
drive to protest the SHU and gang debriefing policies with a
demonstration in Sacramento planned for April 9.
The other Call to Action is massive letters/calls to Terhune,
Lockyer, Gov. Davis, Senators and media around the torture
of mentally ill patient James Diesso (mother Margie Jump).
This campaign has outraged many other groups and will
appear soon in the Los Angeles Times and Vacaville Reporter.
We are all connected, and our campaigns are designed to
expose bad conditions or corruption for thousands of prisoners.
They are also designed to drive a point home that the UNION is
in opposition to all the oppression and injustice taking place in
our state including Three Strikes and Mandatory Minimum laws,
the death penalty, the failure to enforce Prop 215 and all things
related to our mission statement.
One small group of a single interest is not going to draw the crowds
necessary to achieve media coverage. But when you combine many
mainstream human rights groups into one squeaky wheel, then there
is the awesome power of numbers which forces reform and attention
to the suffering. It's up to you to do your part to write/demonstrate/
recruit members into the UNION and to respond to abour 4 calls to
action per month with letters or one demonstration.
If you live in California, there is a team leader near you who needs
you on their team of action letter writers and demonstrators. We
must find thousands of people to support us to get several pieces
of legislation changed in California. Even if all the 3 strikes families
who are victims of the laws participate, it is still not enough people.
That's why the UNION goes across the board to protest injustices,
so that we can draw huge response in our Calls to Action. Otherwise
we will be ignored. That's how the democratic process works. Those
people with the loudest activists, who donate the most money and
have the largest and best organized groups....get what they want...pure
and simple. What is destroying your life is a voting block who is organized.
With your help, we can do the same thing bigger and better.
B. Cayenne Bird
When I die, I want to go in my sleep, in peace, like Dad
NOT in a screaming panic (like his passengers!).
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
-- Mark Twain
Wings of an Angel BOOKSTORE
http://www.narsh.com/bookstore.html
stomps
OH - and never ASSUME - because when you do
you make an ASS of U and ME
but since you asked, I believe the man was from Bakersfield Ca - had been drinking and when he became an uncooperative detainee at the local jail - the cops sprayed perrer and he died !
just like that !
also - there was something about his father and a book - a scathing type of book - If I remember and another death ?
Well SHIT ! Why are you asking if you don't care anyways ??
jonathon disse <jdi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:36E17389...@hotmail.com...
>who the hell is danny dunn and why should i care? if you want people to care
>about your cause you should inform them, dont assume we know.
>
Twislok
Lots Of Love
MAX
>From: "stomps" <sto...@mediaone.net>
>
>okay - we care whether or not you're informed ?
>
>OH - and never ASSUME - because when you do=20
>you make an ASS of U and ME
>
>but since you asked, I believe the man was from Bakersfield Ca - had =
>been drinking and when he became an uncooperative detainee at the local =
>jail - the cops sprayed perrer and he died !=20
>just like that !
>
>also - there was something about his father and a book - a scathing type =
>of book - If I remember and another death ?
>Well SHIT ! Why are you asking if you don't care anyways ??
>
>
>jonathon disse <jdi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message =
>news:36E17389...@hotmail.com...
>>who the hell is danny dunn and why should i care? if you want people =
>to care
>>about your cause you should inform them, dont assume we know.
>>
Barbara Lightle
Man who died after jail struggle had torn liver
Filed: March 8, 1999
By STEVE E. SWENSON
Californian staff writer
The cause of death for a Bakersfield man, who suddenly stopped breathing
last month after a struggle in the downtown jail, was internal bleeding
from a torn liver, coroner officials said Monday.
However, it is unknown how Danny Dunn's liver — which was weakened by
alcohol abuse — became torn, chief coroner investigator Jim Malouf
said.
DunnAn autopsy disclosed no evidence of a beating by jailers, Malouf
said.
Dunn, 37, is the son of Patrick Dunn, 62, whose murder conviction is the
subject of a recent book, "Mean Justice," which is critical of Kern
County prosecutors.
The senior Dunn is serving a life term in connection with the 1993
murder of his wife, Alexandra "Sandy" Dunn.
Danny Dunn died Feb. 18 after a struggle with three sheriff's
correctional officers, who, under the supervision of Sgt. Betty
Mitchell, went into Dunn's drunk tank cell to subdue him.
Dunn had been in jail for about five hours. His behavior alternated
between quiet and combative, Sgt. Glenn Johnson said.
Johnson is the Sheriff's Department's chief homicide detective. He also
investigates suspicious deaths in the jail.
Mitchell had been able to calm Dunn earlier, so she directed the
officers to subdue him, Johnson said.
But Dunn lunged at one of the officers, who responded by dousing Dunn's
eyes with a short burst of pepper spray, Johnson said.
The officers then wrestled Dunn to the floor, handcuffed his hands
behind him and shackled his ankles to keep him from kicking, Johnson
said.
That's when Dunn suddenly stopped breathing, Johnson said.
The officers immediately administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation
until paramedics arrived, Johnson said.
A Feb. 19 autopsy did not reveal the cause of death, but a review of
medical records and toxicological tests led to the conclusion that he
died from internal bleeding, Malouf said.
Contributing factors included a head injury and rib fractures that he
sustained before he went to Mercy Hospital on Feb. 17.
Dunn told doctors he fell off a bicycle, Malouf said. But Dunn left the
hospital before doctors finished examining him, Malouf said. It is
unknown if Dunn had internal injuries at that time, he said.
Dunn was arrested for public intoxication at his apartment, 2211
California Ave., about 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 18. A neighbor told The
Californian he called police after hearing Dunn fall down the stairs.
Dunn was yelling from a second-floor balcony when police arrived, but he
did not resist arrest, Bakersfield police Sgt. Bryan Lynn has said.
That changed after Dunn was taken to the downtown jail and put into a
cell equipped only with a toilet, Johnson said.
The cell is sparsely equipped to prevent intoxicated people from hurting
themselves, he explained.
A nurse examined Dunn, who was belligerent and combative, but did not
see any external injuries which indicated that he needed medical
treatment or hospitalization, Johnson said. The nurse detected no
evidence of internal injuries, he said.
In the absence of any sign that hospitalization is needed, the procedure
is to keep an inmate in jail, Johnson said.
Malouf said that given Dunn's uncooperative behavior in the hospital the
day before, it is unknown whether doctors would have detected internal
injuries had Dunn gone right to the hospital instead of jail.
Toxicology reports showed that Dunn had alcohol in his system, and a
less-than-therapeutic level of lithium, a drug often prescribed for
depression, Malouf said. Dunn's family said he was manic-depressive.
Malouf said first-time users of lithium can eliminate it from their
bodies within a few hours, but longtime users build up a high level that
stays for days or longer.