The family of a New York woman who died in police custody at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city, accusing officers of using excessive force and contributing to her death.
Carol Anne Gotbaum's family criticized police following her Sept. 28, 2007 death in an airport holding cell, and their lawsuit claims that officers failed to follow department policies that would have kept her safe.
"If they followed their policies, Carol would be alive today," the family's lawyer Michael Manning said.
Gotbaum, step-daughter-in-law of Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate, an elected position that involves helping improve services to citizens, was headed to an alcohol rehabilitation program in Tucson, Arizona on the day she died. She was upset after missing her connecting flight, and police stopped her as she wandered through the terminal screaming "I'm not a terrorist!"
According to the lawsuit, Gotbaum, 45, started drinking at the terminal and called her husband. When she was denied from boarding a second flight, Gotbaum became distraught.
Officers stopped her, took her to the ground, handcuffed her, and then shackled her to a bench in a terminal holding cell.
She was later found dead with her hands up near her neck. An autopsy concluded Gotbaum accidentally hanged herself on her shackles, and that intoxication on alcohol and prescription drugs were contributing factors.
There was no monetary figure listed in the lawsuit filed Thursday, but a claim filed against the city in March, a legally required precursor to a lawsuit, sought $8 million (euro5.21 million) for Gotbaum's husband Noah, her three children and her estate.
A spokesman for the Phoenix police, Joel Tranter, would not comment Thursday on the lawsuit, but the department has previously rejected claims that it is responsible for Gotbaum's death.
Stephen Craig, a lawyer for Phoenix police, criticized Gotbaum's family in a March 26 letter to the family's lawyers for blaming police.
In the letter, Craig pointed out that the family knew of Gotbaum's fragile mental state and her problems with alcohol, yet nobody accompanied her to the treatment program in Arizona.
"The thrust of the Gotbaum family claim is that the City of Phoenix police officers should have been more supportive than Carol's own husband, more knowledgeable than her own family, and should somehow have known that she suffered from a private condition that she deliberately hid from the public."
He added that Phoenix police made almost 4,500 arrests for disorderly conduct, loud noise and drinking last year.
"Is there anyone seriously suggesting that the officers should place a 24-hour suicide watch on each 'drunk and disorderly' suspect they arrest? That they should put their arms around their shoulders, sit them down, and give them some attention?" Craig wrote.
"Or is this treatment only for the wealthy and politically influential?"
The lawsuit contends police failed to follow a number of policies during the arrest, including asking for medical attention for people believed to be sick or injured and keeping mentally or physically impaired prisoners in sight at all times.
Carol Gotbaum was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and worked as a department store buyer in London before moving to New York with her husband.
Source: AP Features
