No Criminal Charges in Death of Fishkill Inmate

NEW YORK – Federal authorities announced last Wednesday that there is insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges in the death of Fishkill Correctional Facility inmate Samuel Harrell. He died on April 21, 2015 following an altercation with correctional officers.

Acting US Attorney Joon Kim and Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady met with Harrell’s family and their representatives last Wednesday to inform them of the decision.

Following an investigation, prosecutors determined there is insufficient evidence to meet the high burden of proof required for a federal criminal civil rights prosecution. To prove a violation of the federal criminal civil rights statute, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. Accident, mistake, fear, negligence. bad judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.

The Dutchess DA’s Office also found there is insufficient evidence to meet the high burden of proof necessary to support a prosecution under and state theory of homicide.

Harrell, 30, had been residing in a prison building that contains housing units for inmates including those with mental health issues. On the evening of April 21, 2015, Harrell packed his personal belongings and told corrections officers he was leaving the facility. He had not yet completed his term of incarceration. A call was placed to the mental health unit for assistance. Harrell then ran from his housing unit and attempted to leave the prison.

He ran head-first into a locked exit door before a group of corrections officers used physical force to apprehend and handcuff him. Harrell was over six feet tall and weighed some 240 pounds.

There is no video evidence of the altercation between Harrell and the officers and several eyewitness accounts of the incident including those from inmates.

Harrell and several officers were taken to the prison’s medical unit with Harrell having a faint pulse, which shortly thereafter could not be detected. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him and he was transported to St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The medical examiner found no indication that Harrell was asphyxiated, and confirmed that none of the injuries, singularly or collectively, were a direct cause of his death.