by Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle
August 19, 2024
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After Jesse Banks died alone in his cell at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, a state medical examiner found a ripped up a mask to protect against disease crammed in the back of his bloody mouth.
The account, drawn from an Oregon State Police detective’s notes, is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Oregon Department of Corrections on Sunday in U.S. District Court in Eugene. The lawsuit, filed by Banks’ mother Patricia “Trish” Nemeth, lays out a series of allegations about Banks’ treatment in prison before his death on the morning of April 1, 2023 in a cell in the prison’s behavioral health unit.
More broadly, it seeks to hold the agency accountable for its treatment of Banks, a 35-year-old man who had a documented history of mental health challenges and needed medication. The lawsuit suggests either a coverup, negligence or both were involved and seeks damages of up to $20 million.
“The state actors were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of Mr. Banks, either by strangling him to death, increasing his dosage to a fatal dose and then leaving him unattended for several hours while they had the responsibility to perform tier checks every 15 minutes,” the lawsuit said. Jesse Banks (Oregon Department of Corrections)
A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Corrections declined to comment on the allegations.
Banks had a developmental disorder, and corrections agency’s staff failed to follow their rules for inmates and make the necessary checks for inmates with mental health conditions who are in solitary confinement, the lawsuit alleges. Those checks are supposed to happen every 15 or 30 minutes.
Instead, a corrections officer checking on Banks found him dead after more than two hours without any checks, the lawsuit alleged.
Wayne Lamb, a Salem attorney who represents the mother, said appropriate medical care and regular checks are crucial in a case like Banks.
The lawsuit says the prison “turned a blind eye” to his need for mental health care and that the state acted to cover up evidence. The mask mentioned in the detective’s notes was an N95, which is supposed to filter out 95% of particles in the air, including those that cause COVID.
The bloody mask was not mentioned in the autopsy report, the lawsuit said. Instead, the report said the upper airway was not obstructed, the lawsuit alleged.
The complaint said the autopsy investigation was flawed and that the state either “intended to bury evidence” or had no interest in the actual cause of death, the lawsuit said. The autopsy found the death was self-inflicted strangulation.
The lawsuit asserted Banks died in one of two ways – and the state was responsible in both cases. One possibility is that a state employee at the prison crammed the mask into his throat and the evidence was buried, the lawsuit said. The other is when a doctor inappropriately adjusted his medication, it forced an overdose and triggered a suicide, the lawsuit said.
Either way, the failure to conduct regular checks contributed, the lawsuit said.
“Whether the death was suicide or guard strangulation, the death was the product of a criminal act of intent or recklessness,” the lawsuit said.
Based on medical records, the lawsuit said Banks didn’t have an inclination toward suicide. Rather, he said he looked forward to his release while visiting with his family.
“He spoke of the future, of work, of National Geographic subscriptions and he generally spoke with optimism and level-headedness,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Banks faced bullying and harassment from corrections officers and struggled to get access to appropriation medications.
Banks bounced in and out of the criminal justice system and, at times, went to Oregon State Hospital for treatment so he could aid in his defense in court against various charges. His mental health and ability to face charges was repeatedly mentioned in his felony cases.
He also was imprisoned. In 2018, he went to Oregon State Penitentiary for a 38-month sentence and was housed in the behavioral health unit.
In 2022, he was sentenced on charges of aggravated harassment and assaulting a public safety officer and returned to the prison. When Banks died, he was about two years from his release date.
A corrections officer found him under his blankets and out of sight from the door, the lawsuit said.
Officers told investigators they made efforts to revive him with medical staff, but his body was no longer warm. He was already stiff and rigid from rigor mortis. They said they gave him CPR anyway.
“Whether true or not, it was clearly too late, as Mr. Banks was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m.,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit opens the door for Nemeth’s lawyer to obtain more evidence, including potential security camera footage, and to interview prison staff to learn more about what transpired.
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