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This story is taken from Opinion at sacbee.com.<br><br>
Editorial: Beyond bizarre<br>
He may be dead, but he's eligible for parole<br><br>
<br>
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, February 3, 2005What does it take to
get<br>
declared dead in California, anyway? The question isn't as dumb as
it<br>
may seem. Consider: <br><br>
A person who is declared brain dead is legally and physiologically
dead.<br>
"Brain dead" is dead. <br><br>
By that standard, a Wasco State Prison inmate surely qualifies as
being<br>
dead. So why is he being treated as alive? <br><br>
The prisoner, Daniel Provencio, has been at Mercy Hospital in<br>
Bakersfield since he was shot in the head with a "foam" bullet
by a<br>
prison guard Jan. 16. Members of Provencio's family told the
Bakersfield<br>
Californian that doctors declared him clinically dead the morning
of<br>
Jan. 20 after tests found no brain activity. <br><br>
Under California law, the hospital must do two examinations by two<br>
different doctors to determine death. If the patient meets all
criteria<br>
for death on both examinations, this is noted in the medical record
at<br>
the time of the second exam and is recorded as the time of death.
The<br>
coroner's office typically is called as soon as death is declared.
<br><br>
Yet Provencio's mother said Wasco Warden P.L. Vazquez expects
Provencio<br>
to "serve out his sentence" from a hospital bed. The family has
asked<br>
obvious questions: "If he's dead, why are they keeping him? How does
a<br>
dead man do time?" <br><br>
Here's how. Provencio is on a mechanical ventilator and a feeding
tube,<br>
even though he's dead. And he's shackled to the bed by both ankles,
even<br>
though he's dead. He's being guarded by prison guards
'round-the-clock<br>
at a cost of $1,056-a-day, even though he's dead. <br><br>
No, we are not making this up. But the absurdities don't end there.
<br><br>
The Department of Corrections apparently now is considering a<br>
"compromise" that might allow the dead man to be released on
"early<br>
parole." <br><br>
Obviously, this preposterous situation can't go on. The hospital
needs<br>
to step forward and make a definitive declaration: Is Provencio dead?
If<br>
yes, what was his time of death, and why hasn't he been released
for<br>
burial? <br><br>
Time of death is recorded on a patient's chart as the time he met
the<br>
criteria of brain death. If he's not dead, who told the family that<br>
Provencio is "brain dead," which is dead-dead? Either the
family is<br>
being denied the right to bury their relative or they have been<br>
subjected to a huge hoax. <br><br>
The absurdities aren't confined to the handling of Provencio's
current<br>
condition. Consider the chain of events that led to the present<br>
situation. <br><br>
At Wasco State Prison on Jan. 16, two inmates were fighting;
Provencio<br>
apparently tried to prevent prison guards from intervening. <br><br>
KGET-TV 17 News reported that the incident was an "alcohol-fueled
brawl<br>
between inmates." Officers told the station that inmates brew fruit
and<br>
other food ingredients. A guard shot Provencio in the head, though<br>
"foam" bullets are meant to be fired at a person's legs and
arms. <br><br>
Alcohol production and brawls. Shooting inmates in the head.
Shackling<br>
and guarding a dead inmate. What is going on at this prison? The<br>
Department of Corrections needs to get control of this
out-of-control<br>
institution. And it needs to end the macabre saga of the
(apparently)<br>
late Daniel Provencio. <br>
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