2. The Conduct of Future
Proceedings, Including the Trial, in Cuyahoga County Will Eliminate the Threat
of Witness Intimidation, Retaliation, and Further Physical Violence From the
Medina County Prosecutor’s Office and Medina County Sheriff’s Deputies.
The
State, by and through the bad
faith conduct, in fact misconduct, of the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office
and the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, has exhibited unbridled animus toward
Mr. Hartman, his family, and defense counsel throughout the course of the prior
proceedings in this case.
A. The Deliberate Refusal of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office
to Provide Timely and Adequate Medical Treatment to Mr. Hartman for a
Life-Threatening Illness, While Confined in the Medina County Jail, Speaks to
the Animus of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office Toward Mr. Hartman
During trial
proceedings at his second trial, Matthew Hartman complained of pain and
swelling at his left thigh, and sought medical treatment. During the initial treatment, the attending
physician recommended additional medical testing, which Mr. Hartman deferred so
as not to impede the progress of his trial. As trial progressed, however, the
level of pain and swelling increased.
Mr.
Hartman was convicted by jury on May 18, 2012, whereupon the Court ordered him
remanded to the custody of the Medina County Jail. During his post-conviction confinement at the
Medina County Jail, Mr. Hartman’s physical condition and health continued to
decline. Personnel of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office were indifferent to Mr.
Hartman’s medical needs and, on more than one occasion, Mr. Hartman’s
counsel requested the intervention of this Court to obtain medical treatment
for Mr. Hartman.
On
or about May 20, 2012, Mr. Hartman was conveyed by Medina County Sheriff’s to
the Medina General Hospital Emergency Room, where the attending physician ruled
out a blood clot in the left leg, without any further medical treatment. Mr. Hartman was returned to the Medina County
Jail, with physician’s orders that Mr.
Hartman be returned to the hospital in the event that his condition worsened.
Mr.
Hartman’s condition continued to deteriorate. Swelling and pain increased to
the level that Mr. Hartman became delirious. Sheriff’s personal refused to return him to the Medina General
Hospital, contrary to physician’s orders, and repeatedly derided Mr. Hartman as
a “faker.”
On
May 24, 2012, the Court conducted a sentencing hearing and imposed sentence on Mr.
Hartman. At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Hartman’s counsel again sought
the Court’s intervention in obtaining medical treatment for Mr. Hartman. Specifically, Mr. Hartman’s Counsel requested
the Court to order the Medina County Sheriff’s Office to convey Mr. Hartman
directly to the hospital for medical treatment.
The Court refused the request, and stated the belief that the Medina
County Sheriff was qualified to the medical need of Mr. Hartman. The court’s confidence was misplaced.
Following
the sentencing hearing, Mr. Hartman’s medical status deteriorated rapidly and
he became desperately ill. Sheriff’s Office corrections and contract
medical personnel, including the Medina County Sheriff, refused Mr. Hartman
access to medical treatment.
Ultimately, Mr. Hartman’s mother sought intervention from political
figures in Medina County. Those figures
prevailed upon Sheriff Hassinger to take some action on behalf of Mr. Hartman.
As
a result, the Sheriff personally proceeded to the pod where Mr. Hartman was
being held and observed his physical condition.
Sheriff Hassinger, upon observing Mr. Hartman’s condition, ordered Mr.
Hartman to be conveyed immediately to the Emergency Room at the Medina General
Hospital. The Sheriff later conceded that, when he observed Mr. Hartman’s
condition, he feared that Mr. Hartman may very well have died upon the premises
of the County Jail.
Mr.
Hartman was finally conveyed to the Medina General Hospital, where he was
diagnosed with abscess to the left thigh, sepsis due to abscess, leukocytosis
due to the abscess, thrombocytosis due to the abscess, acute kidney injury due
to the abscess, shock likely septic in nature due to the untreated abscess, and
anemia. Concerns included exposure to
MRSA exposure in the prison setting.
Mr.
Hartman hovered near death and, on the morning that surgeons intended to
amputate his left leg, Mr. Hartman began responding to treatment. In
fact, while Mr. Hartman remained hospitalized, near death and under guard,
certain Sheriff’s Office personnel continued to mock and deride Mr. Hartman.
Mr. Hartman remained hospitalized for ten
weeks due to complications arising from his medical condition, for which he had
been denied treatment while confined at the Medina County Jail. Mr. Hartman has compiled a complete set of his
medical records, which are available to the Court for inspection.
Moreover, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office
barred Mr. Hartman’s family from visitation as he hovered near death at Medina
General Hospital. See 2/11/2013 Petition
to Vacate and Set Aside Judgment of Conviction and Sentence in Second Trial.
The Supreme Court
has interpreted the Eighth Amendment's proscription against cruel and unusual
punishment as imposing a duty upon the States, through the Fourteenth
Amendment, "to provide adequate medical care to incarcerated
individuals." Boyce v.
Moore, 314 F.3d 884, 888-89 (7th Cir.2002) (citing Estelle
v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 103, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976)).
The
failure of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office to provide timely, adequate
medical treatment to Mr. Hartman, whose very life had been threatened by his untreated
medical condition, which the Medina County Sheriff’s Office corrections and
contract medical personnel deliberately ignored, deprived Mr. Hartman of his
constitutional protections guaranteed by
the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and
demonstrates the animus of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office.
