Officers to face no charges in Franklin County jail death

Dr. Stephen Erickson with the state medical examiner’s office concluded Franklin, 20, died from acidosis brought on by “a perfect storm” of factors: methamphetamine intoxication, exertion and struggle over a long period of time, restraint and multiple Tas

Franklin County’s prosecutor will not pursue criminal charges against three law enforcement officers involved in the death of a jail inmate in May.

David Gibbons wrote in a letter Wednesday to Arkansas State Police investigator Phillip Pierce he didn’t believe there was enough evidence to convince a jury Franklin County Sheriff’s Office jailer Nicholas James and Ozark police officers Nathan Griffith and Sgt. Joseph Griffith caused the May 11 death of Cody Jack Franklin.

Dr. Stephen Erickson with the state medical examiner’s office concluded Franklin, 20, died from acidosis brought on by “a perfect storm” of factors: methamphetamine intoxication, exertion and struggle over a long period of time, restraint and multiple Taser shocks.

“Each one of these factors played a role in causing the death of Cody Franklin,” Gibbons wrote.

Gibbons gave a synopsis of the facts from Pierce’s investigation and Erickson’s autopsy of Franklin.

Franklin was arrested on the afternoon of May 10 after he was seen acting erratically. A resident reported Franklin hid in a ditch for 30 minutes to an hour and then stood in the middle of the highway with a stick over his head. Franklin, sweating profusely, also made inconsistent statements to a sheriff’s deputy.

The deputy took Franklin into custody and took him to the county jail where he was booked in and placed in a cell with other inmates.

Around midnight, Franklin got into fights with at least three inmates. During the fights, the inmates tried to hold Franklin down, according to reports. James called for assistance to move Franklin into the drunk tank and Nathan Griffith arrived to help.

Franklin started fighting with the two officers and Griffith shocked Franklin with his Taser until the two were able to handcuff him, according to reports. Gibbons noted Franklin was shocked with the Taser five times for a total of 18 seconds over two minutes.

The off icers dragged Franklin to the drunk tank where he resisted again, prompting Joseph Griffith, who had arrived in the meantime, to use his Taser on Franklin. He used the Taser three times over a minute for a total of 17 seconds, Gibbons wrote.

To subdue Franklin, an unspecified number of the officers also got on top of Franklin while he was face down on the floor. When he stopped moving, the officers got off him and removed the handcuffs. Both of the Griffiths said in their statements Franklin had a pulse at that time, Gibbons wrote.

But after two or three minutes when Franklin still hadn’t moved, they checked again, and Franklin didn’t have a pulse. Medical help was summoned, and Franklin couldn’t be revived, Gibbons wrote.

Gibbons wrote Erickson concluded from an autopsy Franklin died of acidosis.

According to Erickson, Gibbons wrote, the methamphetamine intoxication caused cardiac irritability compounded by a buildup of lactic acid from Franklin’s extended exertion of fighting.

The methamphetamine intoxication likely put Franklin in a state of excited delirium, Gibbons wrote, which would have prevented him from perceiving the lactic acid buildup and allowed him to continue his physical aggression.

Several shocks from the Taser increased Franklin’s physiological stress and the level of the acidosis.

Finally, Gibbons wrote, Franklin was unable to relieve the acidosis by eliminating carbon dioxide through breathing. Part of the problem was one or more of the officers was on top of him, making it impossible for him to breathe enough to eliminate the carbon dioxide.

“Franklin would have appeared to the officers to be breathing normally and would have, according to Dr. Erickson, been able to talk or even yell, but in fact he was not able to eliminate the [carbon dioxide] fast enough to decrease the acidosis, which caused his death,” Gibbons wrote.