| After Eugene
Castelle Died in Riker's Island Jail
Corrections Commission Must Give Records
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Feb 5, updated
– A 27 year old man, Eugene
Castelle, reportedly related
to the Luchese family on
Staten Island died while
imprisoned on Riker's Island
on November 8, 2016. There are
photos which his lawyer calls
bad, and there is as Inner
City Press first and
exclusively reported on
February 2 a missing video.
There was a
demand for $2 million, by the
plaintiff, it emerged on
February 2, but the demand may
go higher if and when the
missing video is found or
produced. Discovery document
on Patreon here.
Inner City Press' reporting
has gleaned stories of Eugene
Castelle seeking detox but
being provided with dubious
methadone and convulsing. It
is said that other prisoners
dragged him down to the
guards' Bubble for help, but
were rebuffed. He died, and
now the video is missing.
On
February 2, U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn
held a discovery conference.
Inner City Press alone covered
it.
Judge Netburn
expressed skepticism that the
City does not have deposition
transcripts computerized, and
urged that an inquiry into how
the video of the time of death
was altered.
Inner City
Press now askes, Inquiry by
whom? This is more than a
private lawsuit - it is a
scandal.
The defense
lawyer blurted out that there
had been a $2 million demand.
The
plaintiff's lawyer replied
that was the demand BEFORE he
learned how bad things were.
He said he could not advise
settlement until seeing the
video.
Judge
Netburn offered a settlement
conference in March, or if not
taken soon, in May.
Now on
February 5 Judge Netburn has
issued an order that "The
Court finds that the interest
of justice significantly
outweighs the need for
confidentiality and ORDERS the
Commission to produce the
relevant records to the
parties in this case. N.Y.
Mental Hyg. Law § 33.13(c)(1)
(McKinney 2020). (Signed by
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn
on 2/5/2021)."
As Inner
City Press also first
reported, Judge Netburn issued
a separate February 5 order
directing the City to file a
status letter by February 9
"describing the progress made
on numerous discovery issues,
which include locating the
missing video footage of Mr.
Castelle's death and
identifying custodians for
electronically stored
information."
The case, which
Inner City Press will be
covering going forward and
filing FOIL requests about, is
Tirado v. City of New York et
al., 19-cv-10377 (Netburn)
***
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