Inmates testify in Fayette jail death federal case
PITTSBURGH — A federal trial is underway to determine if Fayette County Prison employees showed deliberate indifference leading to the death of an inmate in 2007.
Five of the seven witnesses who testified Tuesday were themselves inmates when Terry Johnson, 48, died Feb. 24, 2007, in his cell in the B Range of the county jail. Also testifying were Pennsylvania State Trooper Thomas Broadwater and Adrianne Wilson, who was involved in prison ministry at the time.
Johnson was jailed after allegedly violating a protection from abuse order by repeatedly calling his wife, Lorraine Johnson. Johnson was incarcerated in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 23; by 9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, Johnson was dead. An autopsy showed that he died from peritonitis which developed after a perforation in his small intestine caused toxins to leak into his stomach.
Attorney Noah Geary is representing Terry Johnson’s estate and Lorraine Johnson in the case. He contended in his opening statement that Terry Johnson complained of pain for 30 hours prior to his death, but was denied access to appropriate medical care. The defense attorneys representing the prison staff and PrimeCare Medical, the contractor providing care at the prison, contend in part that the use of crack cocaine prior to his arrest and still found in his system at autopsy, masked the symptoms of the peritonitis and may have caused a referred pain that Johnson reported as chest pain and not abdominal pain, leading to the inaccurate diagnosis and treatment.
Broadwater testified that he interviewed the medical staff and was shown an EKG report that indicated normal heart rhythms though Johnson had reportedly complained repeatedly of chest pains.
“We’re all human beings, so we should all be treated as human beings, whether we do right or wrong,” said Derek Bradley, who was jailed three cells away from Johnson.
Bradley testified that Johnson was calling out that his insides were hurting and that he was cold.
Bradley testified he could see Johnson on the cell block floor after the man was found dead in his cell.
“His eyes were open, but he wasn’t breathing. They put him on the cold floor and his shirt was up and his stomach was terrible. It was all lumpy and blown up,” Bradley said.
Geary had shown a photo of Johnson dead on the jail floor, his shirt raised and stomach distended during his opening statement, though Bradley was not present during that portion of the trial.
Another man who was held at the jail while Johnson was there, James King of Connellsville, said he was in a restricted housing unit but was allowed to take his hour of exercise on the B-Range when he met Johnson.
“Anyone could clearly see he was hurting pretty bad. He was sweating profusely and I heard weeping. I approached the officer (David “Gunny” Skiles) one more time,” King said. “I told Gunny, ‘What’s your problem? This guy looks like he’s going to die.’ He said ‘That’s alright, we could use the bed space.'”
King said that was just an hour before Johnson’s death.
“I got a newspaper shortly after this happened and it said something like Mr. Johnson died peacefully of a heart attack and I knew that was anything but the truth and I thought the family should know.”
King wrote a two-page letter to Lorraine Johnson, which she then showed to Broadwater as part of his investigation.
Another former inmate, Erik Hamm, testified that he was also on the cell block and upset by the calls for help and by the body left on the floor uncovered. Hamm said he was in jail a total of five days and the first thing he did upon his release was seek Johnson’s family.
“I didn’t know where he was from. I picked up a phone book and just started calling Johnsons. I felt his family needed to know what really happened in there,” Hamm testified.
Testimony is expected to continue throughout the week, including testimony from Johnson’s wife, various expert witnesses and the defendants, including former warden Larry Medlock and corrections officers Anthony DelVerme, Kevin Locke and Skiles.