RICHMOND, Virginia – The Virginia State Police investigator seemed intrigued by what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions in a prison so cold that bathroom water froze and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
“How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You should not.”
The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, occurred during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center who records show was among those repeatedly hospitalized for hypothermia.
After a special grand jury considered the case but chose not to bring criminal charges, Givens’ sister sued in federal court, alleging that her brother was subjected to routine mistreatment, including “cold water torture,” before of being fatally beaten in 2022.
The lawsuit raised broader questions about conditions at the Southwest Virginia prison, which the grand jury described as “inhumane and deplorable.”
The AP obtained records showing that inmates at Marion, which predominantly houses mentally ill criminals, were hospitalized for hypothermia at least 13 times in three years during cold weather months, while medical care providers expressed concern about temperatures at the facility. prison.
“I am hopeful that it may warm up a bit before the official start of fall…but the colder temperatures make this specific population vulnerable to hypothermia and possibly pneumonia,” a prison nurse wrote in September 2020. “I know that we’re always trying to avoid hospital runs and things like that.”
Prison medical providers raised the possibility that antipsychotic medications some inmates were taking could have played a role in their hospitalizations for hypothermia, according to the records. But medical experts not connected to the prison said these types of side effects are rare and the number of hospitalizations should be cause for concern.
“There is something unusual about the circumstances that would lead to this high number of hospitalizations for this condition that is otherwise very, very unusual, very rare,” said Dr. Fred Jarskog, professor of psychiatry at UNC-Chapel Hill and director of research. from the North Carolina Psychiatric Research Center “I can say this with great confidence.”
Jarskog said he spent 30 years treating patients with antipsychotics and encountered “maybe” an episode of hypothermia. Even a single case of hypothermia in a patient at the hospital where he works would spark discussion. Numbers like the ones the DOC saw would prompt “a massive investigation,” he said.
Kyle Gibson, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, repeatedly declined to answer questions about what the records showed or address prison conditions, citing pending litigation. He did not respond to an AP request to interview the facility’s director or another DOC official supervised by Marion.
The Department of Corrections and the attorney general’s office previously withheld documents the AP sought under the state’s open records law related to Givens’ death and inmate complaints about freezing temperatures.
In addition to mentally ill inmates, the Marion prison houses general population offenders, like the person seen speaking to the investigator in the video, who provide support services, including maintenance and cleaning.
A 2018 state procurement document for renovations that would include replacing the HVAC system said no major improvements had been made to the building since its main structures were constructed in 1955.
In the video exchange obtained by the AP, the inmate told the state police investigator that there was no functional heat in at least one part of the prison, leading to “unbearable” internal temperatures that he estimated were in the 40s Fahrenheit (4.4 at 9.4 Celsius) or “maybe 30 degrees” (3.3 to 3.8 Celsius) in the cells he cleaned.
The prisoner also claimed that the police would open the external windows as a form of punishment, making the cold worse. The claim is echoed in the lawsuit, which argues that hypothermia without outdoor exposure is uncommon. The inmate said he saw at least six people being treated for hypothermia.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that hypothermia, which can be fatal, is most likely to occur at very low temperatures, but can occur at lower temperatures, above 40 degrees (4.4 Celsius), if a person you have a cold from the water.
Emails and other documents obtained by the AP show medical workers at the prison discussing the cold conditions and expressing concerns about ensuring windows in housing units were closed and blankets were available.
In court records obtained by the AP, an institutional investigator, who said he worked at the prison for decades and reported to the warden, said the part of the facility where Givens was housed remained colder than other parts. The investigator indicated that he would not be surprised to hear complaints of hypothermia.
Givens was hospitalized for hypothermia five times in the last year of his life.
“I understand we all have concerns about Mr. Givens’ care,” a prison nurse commented in an email exchange.
Overall, the records reflect similar previously disclosed concerns about the facility.
A special grand jury convened at the request of the local top prosecutor in 2022 found Givens’ death “suspicious,” also stating in a report that “almost all witnesses” described living conditions in the prison sector that houses mentally ill inmates as “inadequate ”.
“More than one witness observed ice forming in the water in the bathrooms. We consider these conditions to be inhumane and deplorable,” the report stated.
The grand jury concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support an indictment in Givens’ death, but said the case should be reconsidered “should other evidence emerge.” All five agents named in the civil complaint have denied allegations of torture and other misconduct, according to court documents.
As the case over Givens’ death unfolds, the Attorney General’s Office, which represents two additional defendants who held supervisory roles at the prison, has tried unsuccessfully to block additional discovery into issues of hypothermia or allegations of exposure to the cold.
The office argued in court documents that because an autopsy concluded that Givens died from blunt force trauma, “the additional discovery of incidents unrelated or, at best, vaguely related to Mr.
Last month, a judge denied the attorney general’s motion.
The AP made multiple email attempts to contact attorneys for the defendants, seeking comment on the case and allegations of low temperatures. No one responded to questions except a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, who declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
Mark Krudys, attorney for Givens’ sister, Kym Hobbs, declined to comment on the AP’s findings.
Givens was serving time for the 2010 fatal shooting of a woman who worked as his mother’s home nurse. As a child, Givens suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling down a flight of stairs and his intellectual and emotional development was limited to that of a second or third grader, according to the lawsuit.
Givens also had Crohn’s disease, which sometimes caused him to defecate on himself, a factor that his sister’s lawyers say made him a target for abuse.
In July, the AP reported that the FBI was investigating his death.
The civil trial was scheduled for January.
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Associated Press reporter Denise Lavoie contributed to this report.
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