[News] He may be dead, but he's eligible for parole

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This story is taken from Opinion at sacbee.com.

Editorial: Beyond bizarre
He may be dead, but he's eligible for parole


Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, February 3, 2005What does it take to get
declared dead in California, anyway? The question isn't as dumb as it
may seem. Consider:

A person who is declared brain dead is legally and physiologically dead.
"Brain dead" is dead.

By that standard, a Wasco State Prison inmate surely qualifies as being
dead. So why is he being treated as alive?

The prisoner, Daniel Provencio, has been at Mercy Hospital in
Bakersfield since he was shot in the head with a "foam" bullet by a
prison guard Jan. 16. Members of Provencio's family told the Bakersfield
Californian that doctors declared him clinically dead the morning of
Jan. 20 after tests found no brain activity.

Under California law, the hospital must do two examinations by two
different doctors to determine death. If the patient meets all criteria
for death on both examinations, this is noted in the medical record at
the time of the second exam and is recorded as the time of death. The
coroner's office typically is called as soon as death is declared.

Yet Provencio's mother said Wasco Warden P.L. Vazquez expects Provencio
to "serve out his sentence" from a hospital bed. The family has asked
obvious questions: "If he's dead, why are they keeping him? How does a
dead man do time?"

Here's how. Provencio is on a mechanical ventilator and a feeding tube,
even though he's dead. And he's shackled to the bed by both ankles, even
though he's dead. He's being guarded by prison guards 'round-the-clock
at a cost of $1,056-a-day, even though he's dead.

No, we are not making this up. But the absurdities don't end there.

The Department of Corrections apparently now is considering a
"compromise" that might allow the dead man to be released on "early
parole."

Obviously, this preposterous situation can't go on. The hospital needs
to step forward and make a definitive declaration: Is Provencio dead? If
yes, what was his time of death, and why hasn't he been released for
burial?

Time of death is recorded on a patient's chart as the time he met the
criteria of brain death. If he's not dead, who told the family that
Provencio is "brain dead," which is dead-dead? Either the family is
being denied the right to bury their relative or they have been
subjected to a huge hoax.

The absurdities aren't confined to the handling of Provencio's current
condition. Consider the chain of events that led to the present
situation.

At Wasco State Prison on Jan. 16, two inmates were fighting; Provencio
apparently tried to prevent prison guards from intervening.

KGET-TV 17 News reported that the incident was an "alcohol-fueled brawl
between inmates." Officers told the station that inmates brew fruit and
other food ingredients. A guard shot Provencio in the head, though
"foam" bullets are meant to be fired at a person's legs and arms.

Alcohol production and brawls. Shooting inmates in the head. Shackling
and guarding a dead inmate. What is going on at this prison? The
Department of Corrections needs to get control of this out-of-control
institution. And it needs to end the macabre saga of the (apparently)
late Daniel Provencio.

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