The U.S. Court of Appeals for the sixth circuit affirmed their ruling of a three year prison sentence in retired sgt. John Gray's appeal.
/ wnwo
TOLEDO -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the sixth circuit upheld its 2009 sentencing of retired LCSO sergeant John Gray for the 2004 death of inmate Carlton Benton in an opinion filed August 31, 2012.
Circuit Judge Eugene E. Siler affirmed, "John Gray was found guilty of depriving the rights of
Carlton Benton under color of law in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242, and of falsifying
documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519."
Gray appealed that the court erred in its ruling on four separate issues. The opinion states, "First, he contends that the district court should have required the jury to find a nexus between the defendant’s conduct and the federal investigation involved in § 1519. Second, he argues that the jury instruction for Counts 4 and 5 required a specific unanimity instruction. Third, he claims that the district court’s use of acquitted facts in sentencing was unconstitutional and that several of the sentencing enhancements should not apply to this case. Finally, he believes that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 242."
On May 30, 2004 pre-trial detainee Carlton Benton was discharged from the hospital after suffering seizures. In the custody of LCSO officers during his return to jail, Benton "aggressively resisted officers" and was placed in shackles, double hand-cuffs, and a belly-chain. Gray, and five other officers led Benton to his cell in the medical unit. When officers removed the restraints, Benton again "resisted officers and threatened to fight them." Gray placed Benton in a "sleeper hold" (carotid restraint), causing Benton to lose consciousness. Gray ordered the other officers to vacate the cell, event though he was "lying silent and motionless in the bed." Gray later admitted in an interview he heard "gurgling sounds" but never informed any medical personnel, even though LCSO officers are required to seek medical attention any time force is used.
Ten minutes later a deputy called paramedics after finding Benton in his cell unconscious and not breathing. He could not be revived and was declared brain dead. Benton was removed from life support on June 1, 2004. In each of two incident reports filed by Gray and provided to the Lucas County Coroner, Gray failed to disclose the sleeper hold and that the pressure caused Benton to lose consciousness. Based on information provided, the coroner pronounced Benton's death the result of natural causes. Gray's failure to report his application of force on Benton deprived a proper verdict from the coroner, which prevented the Lucas County Prosecutor from presenting the case as a homicide to a grand jury.
Suspicions arose in 2008 when a statement by a LCSO correctional officer led to an FBI investigation of the Benton case. The officer said, "people could be killed and no one lose their job.” The investigation by FBI agent Brian Russ led to Gray's admission to use of the sleeper hold, prompting the coroner to change her verdict to homicide as cause of death. Gray was indicted and subsequently found guilty in December, 2009 of civil rights violations and falsifying documents. He was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment.
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