MAPTalk-Digest Tuesday, July 30 2013 Volume 13 : Number 019
001 'Crack baby' study ends with unexpected but clear result
From:
002 US CA: UCSD Student 'Forgotten by DEA' to Get Millions
From:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: 001 'Crack baby' study ends with unexpected but clear result
From:
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 08:58:55 -0700
'Crack baby' study ends with unexpected but clear result
http://articles.philly.com/2013-07-21/news/40709969_1_hallam-hurt-so-c
------------------------------
Subj: 002 US CA: UCSD Student 'Forgotten by DEA' to Get Millions
From:
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 13:25:14 -0700
UCSD Student "Forgotten by DEA" to Get Millions
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Daniel-Chong-Forgotten-by-DEA-Ho
Daniel Chong was hospitalized in April 2012 after spending five days in a
DEA holding cell without food or water
The U.S. government will pay $4.1 million in response to a lawsuit filed
against federal agents who forgot about a UC San Diego student left in a
holding cell for days without food or water.
Daniel Chong spent five days in a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
holding cell in April 2012.
Taken into custody on a DEA raid, Chong was left in a windowless room
without food and water. He was forced to drink his own urine hoping it
would help him stay alive.
Chong's attorney, who filed a $20 million lawsuit against the DEA,
announced the $4.1 million settlement Tuesday.
“What happened to Daniel Chong should not happen to any human being,”
attorney Gene Iredale said.
Iredale said it was a San Diego Police Department officer by the name of
Darin Reis who told Chong on that first day that someone would be right
back to get him.
The officer was part of a DEA task force made up of local, state and
federal law enforcement.
"It was an accident, a really really bad horrible accident," Chong said
Tuesday regarding the officer's alleged mistake.
The UC San Diego student was at a friend’s house in University City
celebrating 4/20, a day many marijuana users set aside to smoke, when
agents came inside and raided the residence.
Chong was then taken to the DEA office in Kearny Mesa.
“I had to do what I had to do to survive,” Chong told NBC 7 after the
incident. “It’s so inconceivable. You keep doubting they would forget
you."
When he was eventually found, Chong was incoherent and suffering from
kidney failure. He was rushed to the hospital where he spent three days in
the ICU.
More than a year later the DEA that put him there is paying the price.
Defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms, who is not representing Chong,
previously estimated the settlement could be in the $2-3 million range.
“You break it down into the pain and suffering and how horrible this could
have been for the family. They didn't know where he was, all the anguish
the family went through and the young man went through,” Von Helms said.
Eventually Chong was discovered and the DEA issued a formal apology.
Since then, Chong has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
and is being treated by a doctor who normally treats veterans who have
returned from battle.
Iredale said the doctor has "never seen stress or trauma as significant"
as Chong's situation.
"He really did sustain a near-death experience,” Iredale said.
No criminal action will be taken against any individual officers, Iredale
said Tuesday, but they hope there is at least a rebuke of the officer's
alleged actions.
------------------------------
End of MAPTalk-Digest V13 #19
*****************************
|
