State grand jury investigating death in Garfield County jail
Did Oklahoma jail inmate die because he was confined to restraint chair too long?
Oklahoma’s multicounty grand jury is investigating the 2016 death of an inmate, who allegedly was confined too long to a restraint chair at the Garfield County jail.
Anthony Huff, 58, of Enid, was pronounced dead at the jail June 8, 2016, after being found unresponsive in the restraint chair, records show.
He had been jailed four days earlier on a public intoxication complaint, records show. A lawsuit alleges he was left in the restraint chair for more than 48 hours without the proper amount of food, water or breaks.
The grand jury is meeting for three days this week in closed sessions in Oklahoma City. It is scheduled to hear testimony Thursday about the circumstances of Huff’s death.
“We’re still presenting evidence to the grand jury,” said Chris Boring, the district attorney handling the matter. “We hope that a resolution comes soon from the grand jury investigation.”
Garfield County Sheriff Jerry Niles confirmed he already has testified before the grand jury.
“We are admonished to say nothing,” Niles said Friday. “Based upon the instructions of the judge, I can’t talk about it because it is still ongoing. ... I wish I could ... That’s the great thing about grand juries is that they are seekers of the truth,
and we’ll go from there.”
Huff died from complications of his chronic alcoholism, the pathologist who did an autopsy concluded.
Significantly, Huff also was a smoker and had congestive heart failure, heart disease, high blood pressure and hepatitis C, the pathologist also noted.
Attorneys for Huff’s estate allege in a federal civil rights lawsuit that Huff “died due to conditions related to his withdrawal from alcohol and the effects it had on his body and system.”
The estate’s attorneys allege he did not get required timely breaks after being placed in the restraint chair, was not given needed medication and was not checked on regularly.
They further allege he was not allowed enough water to remain hydrated and enough food to deal with the stress of being in the chair.
“The lack of food and water from June 6, 2016, through June 8, 2016, exacerbated the conditions ... and further caused or contributed to the death of Mr. Huff,” the estate’s attorneys wrote.
Huff was placed in the restraint chair June 6, 2016, after he “started experiencing hallucinations and exhibiting delusions,” according to the lawsuit. He was found unresponsive in the restraint chair at approximately 6:16 p.m. June 8, 2016, according to a jail incident report.
The estate is suing the sheriff, jail administrator Jennifer Niles, Garfield County commissioners, the Garfield County Detention Center, the jail medical provider and a jail nurse for actual and punitive damages. The lawsuit is pending in federal court in Oklahoma City.
Jennifer Niles is the sheriff’s daughter-in-law.
Attorneys for Huff’s estate allege the defendants were familiar with Huff’s medical problems because he had been detained before, including earlier that year. The attorneys allege the failure to give him his blood pressure medication “caused or contributed to his death.”
The attorneys for the estate allege the sheriff was aware of past complaints about the chair’s use but responded “with deliberate indifference.”
In an answer to the lawsuit, the sheriff’s attorneys last week wrote that he “denies that he violated Anthony Huff’s rights in any way whatsoever.” The sheriff’s attorneys also wrote that he “was not personally involved in the events.”
Key evidence in both the civil case and the criminal investigation is a video from a jail surveillance camera showing Huff in the restraint chair.
Boring was appointed by the attorney general’s office in October to oversee the investigation. He is the district attorney for Woodward, Woods, Dewey, Alfalfa and Major counties.
Garfield County District Attorney Mike Fields disqualified himself in September from involvement in the investigation because by law he advises the sheriff on legal matters. “I believe I have a clear concurrent conflict of interest,” Fields wrote in his disqualification letter.