Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Slevin was awarded $22 million in damages by a federal jury for his ordeal, which involved being confined to a small cell with no natural light for 23 hours a day.

Meanwhile, his relatives were trying to find out: where's Stephen?

for most of his 22-month detainment, was that he was in "deplorable" conditions of his solitary "pod," court documents state, except for a 14-day period in May 2007, when he was sent to New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, N.M., for a psychiatric review. He had lost a third of his body weight by that point, documents say, and had bed sores and a fungal infection on his skin.

It wouldn't be until months later that Slevin's sister, whose name and location [attorney Matt] Coyte did not give, found out what her brother was going through: Forced to pull out his own tooth because he was denied access to a dentist, he told reporters on Tuesday. Toenails curling around his foot because they were so long. Basically forgotten about in his dark cell for more than 22 months.

“There was no doctor looking after him. There was a nurse, the nurse practitioner.”
But the so-called nurse practitioner only had a bachelor’s degree in psychology and no actual medical qualifications, KOB reported.

Dona Ana County officials were tight-lipped about the case, refusing to answer questions about whether any jail employees were reprimanded or fired over Slevin's treatment.

So, I won't be driving through that county... ever.


News excerpts from http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10243856-letters-from-solitary-confinement-reveal-dwi-mans-despair but you'll find the same info everywhere around the internet... this is appalling. Nothing about being a citizen with constitutional rights was ever applied to this man until his lawyer got the County of Dona Ana of New Mexico sued.

And if you think this is just an isolated incident, and that this Dona Ana County doesn't have problems?

(Mayor Elect) Daniel Salinas, of Sunland Park, was arrested overnight Monday on bribery and conspiracy charges alleging he gave acting Police Chief Luis Monarez his job in exchange for persuading Monarez’s sister not to run against a Salinas ally for City Council, according to Dona Ana County Assistant District Attorney

Salinas had already posted $50,000 cash following his arrest in late February on extortion and other charges related to accusations that he and the city manager tried to force an opponent out of the mayor’s race with a secretly recorded video of him getting a lap dance.

Side note, from the DSC show on 100.7 Jack FM news, the opponent mentioned above was running for Mayor, and while giving a job interview and accompanied by his election campaign manager, the interviewee started up music and stripped off her top. Bingo, caught on film, total set up. Feb 24 podcast #4 of 4 http://www.sandiegojack.com/global/Story.asp?s=12880043

That set off a widespread probe that has resulted in eight arrests of current and former city officials on bribery, extortion, voter fraud and other charges.

From the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sunland-park-nm-mayor-elect-accused-in-lap-dance-video-arrested-again-for-other-alleged-plot/2012/03/20/gIQA20JfPS_story.html

Why did I post this? We all drive, and occasionally we drive through some scary places. I don't want you to go through there without being warned. Seriously.

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