PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "California Assembly member Mike Gipson, a Democrat, recently sponsored AB 360 which would, if passed, “prohibit ‘excited delirium’… from being recognized as a valid medical diagnosis or cause of death in this state. It would also “prohibit a peace officer from using the term… to describe an individual in an incident report.” “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this term has been used by medical examiners’ offices when people had been placed in custody or restrained,” said Gipson. “It’s absolutely time for excited delirium to die,” he added. Angelo Quinto’s family is in full support of the legislation."
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STORY: Effort underway to ban use of controversial term attached to numerous in-custody deaths," by Reporter Chris Vanderveen, published by '9 News' on June 19, 2023.
SUB-HEADING: "Our ongoing investigation has found more than 139 deaths attached to the term “excited delirium.” Now one state legislator says it’s time for the term to die."
GIST: "California is looking to be the first state in the country to effectively ban the use of the term “excited delirium” on such things as death certificates, autopsy reports and police reports.
The move comes after a number of high-profile, in-custody deaths in the state.
One of those deaths involved a man by the name Angelo Quinto.
Quinto, 30, died in late 2020 after members of the Antioch Police Department in California restrained him facedown in his family’s home.
Quinto’s death certificate says he died from “excited delirium.” It’s a controversial term that the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Medical Examiners said is not a medical diagnosis.
A 9NEWS ORIGINALS investigation has linked more than 139 deaths to the term since 2010.
All but two happened during or shortly after law enforcement involvement.
California Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Democrat, recently sponsored AB 360 which would, if passed, “prohibit ‘excited delirium’… from being recognized as a valid medical diagnosis or cause of death in this state.”
It would also “prohibit a peace officer from using the term… to describe an individual in an incident report.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this term has been used by medical examiners’ offices when people had been placed in custody or restrained,” said Gipson.
“It’s absolutely time for excited delirium to die,” he added.
Angelo Quinto’s family is in full support of the legislation."
The entire story can be read at:
73-154a2539-0433-45bb-aea8-9132a94d8a62
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
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