TY - JOUR
T1 - Nontraumatic In-Custody Homicidal Deaths in Harris County, Texas (2015-2019)
T2 - Justification for a Separate Manner of Death Category
AU - Wolf, Dwayne A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - A subset of in-custody deaths, typically occurring in the precustody phase, arise from a combination of mechanisms, rather than a single anatomically or circumstantially demonstrable cause. This case series examined nontraumatic in-custody deaths that occurred over a 5-year period (2015-2019) in Harris County, Texas. Cases were identified as "in custody"or "during police intervention,"with a homicide manner; traumatic causes of death (eg, police shootings) were excluded. Sixteen cases were identified. The median age was 40 years, with an interquartile range of 35 to 50.5 years. All but one were male, and there were 8 (50%) Black, 5 (31%) White, and 1 (6%) Hispanic cases. Intoxicants were detected in all except 1 death that occurred after a prolonged hospitalization; stimulants were identified in 12 (75%). The cause of death for each was descriptive, representing the complex interplay of external forces with physiologic/toxicologic and disease-related mechanisms. This series is used as a backdrop for a discussion regarding the inadequacy of the current 5-category manner of death classification scheme and to suggest an alternative category of manner. This alternative category, specifically "legal intervention,"would be most useful for this subset of nontraumatic in-custody deaths but may have applicability for other types of in-custody deaths.
AB - A subset of in-custody deaths, typically occurring in the precustody phase, arise from a combination of mechanisms, rather than a single anatomically or circumstantially demonstrable cause. This case series examined nontraumatic in-custody deaths that occurred over a 5-year period (2015-2019) in Harris County, Texas. Cases were identified as "in custody"or "during police intervention,"with a homicide manner; traumatic causes of death (eg, police shootings) were excluded. Sixteen cases were identified. The median age was 40 years, with an interquartile range of 35 to 50.5 years. All but one were male, and there were 8 (50%) Black, 5 (31%) White, and 1 (6%) Hispanic cases. Intoxicants were detected in all except 1 death that occurred after a prolonged hospitalization; stimulants were identified in 12 (75%). The cause of death for each was descriptive, representing the complex interplay of external forces with physiologic/toxicologic and disease-related mechanisms. This series is used as a backdrop for a discussion regarding the inadequacy of the current 5-category manner of death classification scheme and to suggest an alternative category of manner. This alternative category, specifically "legal intervention,"would be most useful for this subset of nontraumatic in-custody deaths but may have applicability for other types of in-custody deaths.
KW - excited delirium
KW - homicide
KW - in custody
KW - legal intervention
KW - manner
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121993981&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000682
DO - 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000682
M3 - Article
C2 - 34793409
AN - SCOPUS:85121993981
VL - 42
SP - 363
EP - 366
JO - American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
JF - American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
SN - 0195-7910
IS - 4
ER -