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January 29, 2009
William E. Murray, Aubrey E. Ruta
UPDATE: February 11, 2009
Evidence continued on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, at which time, the defendant called its expert Sondra Sather Crosby, M.D. out of order. Dr. Crosby opined that it was not ethical for the Department of Corrections doctor to force feed Mr. Coleman, that Mr. Coleman was not provided with sufficient information concering procedures other than nasogastric force feeding that could be used to nourish him and that the manner in which Mr. Coleman was force-fed by nasogastric tube was not consistent with a purpose of renourishing him. The State then continued with its direct examination of Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Brian Murphy.
Mr. Murphy's testified that Mr. Coleman's protest caused safety and security issues for the Department of Corrections. However, on cross examination, Mr. Murphy conceded that the Department of Corrections had the ability to take proactive measures to address those concerns.
After Mr. Murphy was finished testifying, Mr. Coleman took the stand for the beginning of his direct examination. During that time, he was shown videos of an instance in which he was restrained and provided with IV fluids and one of the two instances in which he was placed in four point restraints and forcibly fed by nasogastric tube. Curiously, the Department of Corrections failed to record the actual nasogastric feeding procedure itself, including the insertion and removal of the tube.
On the last day of testimony, February 11, 2009, Mr. Coleman continued to testify, describing the nasogastirc force-feeding procedure as excruciatingly painful and unpleasant. When asked how it made him feel psychologically, he broke into tears, indicating that he felt violated. Mr. Coleman also testified that his reasons for engaging in his hunger strike are to protest to the broken and corrupt judicial system that allowed him to be convicted of a crime he did not commit and to protest the abuse that he believes his children are experiencing.
The parties will now submit post-trial briefs. The plaintiff must file a brief by April 1, 2009, and Mr. Coleman's brief is due by May 1, 2009. The court will have the parties back in for final arguments sometime toward the end of May.
UPDATE: February 6, 2009
During the third day of trial, February 5, 2009, the State finished its direct examination of the Department of Corrections Director of Psychiatry, Suzanne Ducate. Dr. Ducate offered testimony that Coleman's hunger strike posed risks to safety and security and that it occupied resources that could be used for the care of other inmates. On cross examination, Dr. Ducate admitted that Coleman is competent and essentially conceded that he is not suicidal - that his primary stated goal is not to die. Although she had claimed to have extensive experience with other hunger striking inmates, she conceded that she had never had a hunger striking inmate die as a result of the hunger strike. Dr. Ducate also admitted that she could not quantify the resources occupied as a result of Coleman's hunger strike. Although a purported expert on "safety and security" of prisons, Dr. Ducate was curiously unable to answer many questions concerning the Department of Corrections' ability to control inmates and disseminate information to them in the event of a crisis, such as the death of a hunger striking inmate.
The State called its third and final witness, Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Brian Murphy, at the end of the day. His testimony will resume on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. Coleman's counsel, William E. Murray and Aubrey A. Ruta, are expected to call their medical expert out of order to start the day.
UPDATE: February 3, 2009
Today, the Court granted the Motion to Seal Videotape Exhibits and to Prevent Public Disclosure of the Video Portions of the Videotape Exhibits filed by the plaintiff, Theresa Lantz, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Through that motion, the plaintiff sought to protect from disclosure certain videos wherein the defendant, William Coleman, is shown being restrained prior to receiving forcible IV therapy and nasogastric tube force-feeding at the hands of the Department of Corrections and the removal of the restraints thereafter. The plaintiff argued that allowing the videos to be recorded and disseminated to the public created safety and security risks to the various correctional facilities where the videos were taken and also to those shown in the videos.
The Court's order provided as follows:
- The videos could be played in open court;
- People will not be excluded from the courtroom during the playing of the videos;
- There shall be no broadcasting, video taping or copying of the videos themselves;
- Once accepted by the Court as evidence, the videos will be placed under seal and kept in a sealed folder in the Court's file, not to be copied, but available to the court and trial counsel;
- Broadcast media and still photographers are ordered not to capture any of the contents of the video recordings;
- When the videos are played, the monitors showing them are to be positioned to be only visible to the judge, court staff, attorneys and witnesses on the stand and shall be positioned such that they are not visible to the television media, public and others in the courtroom; and
- The audio portions of the video recordings shall be able to be heard by all present in the courtroom.
UPDATE: January 30, 2009
Evidence continued today when Attorney William Murray, called the defendant's medical ethics expert, Arthur Caplan, out of order. Dr. Caplan testified that the the State's doctor's force feeding of Mr. Coleman by nasogastric tube was a violation of the standards of medical ethics. After Dr. Caplan's testimony, the State finished its direct examination of its first witness, Dr. Edward Blanchette, the Clinical Director of the Department of Corrections, and then began direct examination of its second witness, Suzanne Ducate, the Director of Psychiatry of the Department of Corrections.
A motion to seal certain video tape evidence from public view will be heard on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, and evidence will continue on Thursday, February 5, 2009.
UPDATE: January 29, 2009
After brief opening statements today before the Honorable James T. Graham, the State put on its first witness, Edward Blanchette, the Clinical Director for the Department of Corrections. Dr. Blanchette provided testimony concerning Mr. Coleman's medical condition, care and treatment and opined that it became medically necessary to administer IV fluids to Mr. Coleman against his will in September and October of 2008. The trial will continue tomorrow, at which time, Attorney Murray will question bioethics expert, Arthur Caplan, out of order, concerning the ethical issues of force-feeding a competent individual. Following Dr. Caplan's testimony, the State is expected to continue its direct examination of Dr. Blanchette.
The text of Attorney Murray's opening statement is attached above.
Hartford, CT MacDougall-Walker Corrections Institute Inmate William B. Coleman, 48, a native of Liverpool, England, and the former women's soccer coach at Central Connecticut State University, was convicted of spousal rape in 2005 and sentenced to eight years in prison. For the past 16 months, he has been on a hunger strike, protesting what he describes as a corrupt and broken judicial system that he believes has resulted in his unjust conviction and the continued psychological abuse of his children. Coleman was sustaining himself on liquids for a year, when he stopped ingesting all fluids, at which time Department of Correction officials restrained and force-fed him by inserting a nasogastric tube into his nose and down into his stomach. In a Superior Court trial that began today in Hartford, Judge James T. Graham is hearing testimony on behalf of Correction Commissioner Theresa C. Lantz asking the judge to make permanent a temporary injunction he issued in January 2008 allowing the state to force-feed Coleman. Coleman’s attorneys, David McGuire, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, and Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge attorneys William E. Murray and Aubrey E. Ruta, insist that Coleman is not trying to kill himself. Rather, he is using the strike as a symbolic political speech and, therefore, should be protected under the United States and Connecticut constitutions. Additionally, Coleman claims that the force-feedings violate his right to privacy and right to bodily self-determination. More background on the treatment of William Coleman can be found here. Media Contact:
Jennifer O'Leary Cathell
Marketing Communications Manager
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
Tel: 401.477.4120
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