Senate Bill S9315

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9315

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the county law, in relation to requiring autopsy reports
to include photographs, microscopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays taken
by, at the direction of, or reviewed by the person performing the autop-
sy

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Current law (County Law 677(6)) requires that the coroner, coroner's
physician, or medical examiner provide the Chairperson of the NYS
Commission of Correction's (SCOC) Correction Medical Review Board and
the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Super-
vision with copies of an autopsy report following the death of an incar-
cerated individual. The purpose is to enable the Board to properly
perform its function of investigating the cause and circumstances
surrounding the death of any incarcerated individual in a correctional
facility, in order to make recommendations to prevent the recurrence of
such deaths. However, existing law does not require that the autopsy
report conveyed to the SCOC Correction Medical Review Board or to the
              

DOCCS Commissioner include photographs, slides, or x-rays. This renders
the reports incomplete and unhelpful for the important work of the
Correction Medical Review Board and the SCOC. This Bill corrects this
omission and specifies that the autopsy report shall include photo-
graphs, microscopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays taken by, at the
direction of, or reviewed by the person performing the autopsy.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 establishes this act to be known as the "Terry Cooper Autopsy
Accountability Act."

Section 2 amends County Law section 677(6) to clarify that an autopsy
report for an incarcerated individual shall include photographs, micro-
scopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays taken by, at the direction of, or
reviewed by the person performing the autopsy.

Section 3 establishes that this act shall take effect on the ninetieth
day after it shall become law and shall apply to all autopsies conducted
on or after such date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On May 19, 2016, Terry Cooper, who had just turned 25 years old, was
brutally assaulted by NYS DOCCS Correction Officers at Clinton Correc-
tional Facility and died that day because of the assault. Mr.  Cooper
weighed approximately 115 pounds and was approximately 5'5" tall, was
the father of a young child, and was known to suffer from severe asthma.
The assault included the use of batons to beat Mr.  Cooper. Mr. Cooper
died as result of this beating. During the beating, Mr. Cooper said that
he could not breathe and that he needed his asthma pump and was taken to
the infirmary where he was unable to be revived.

His official cause of death was determined to be "cardio-respiratory
arrest consistent with acute exacerbation of chronic asthma."

The autopsy report provided to the State Commission of Corrections
Correction Medical Review Board did not include photographs that had
been taken of Mr. Cooper after he passed away, which clearly demon-
strated he had been beaten by batons. This omission, which was in accord
with existing law, made it impossible for the SCOC Correction Medical
Review Board to properly fulfill its mission and responsibility to eval-
uate the cause of death of anyone who dies in custody in NYS and to make
recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such deaths.

These photographs were discovered during the course of the lawsuit
commenced by Mr. Cooper's family. (Cooper v. Clancy, Wood, and Duffina,
19-cv-00362, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.)

When this case went to trial 7 and 1/2 years later (November 2023), the
jury in the U.S. District Court in Albany found that two COs had engaged
in unconstitutional excessive force and that those two plus a third had
unconstitutionally failed to intervene to protect Mr.  Cooper's rights.
The jury awarded a total of $9.25 million to Mr.  Cooper's family
because of these constitutional violations that resulted in his death.
The jury also decided two of the COs would have to pay punitive damages.
It is likely that the evidence showing he was beaten with batons played
a key role in the jury's verdict.  The Cooper family and NYS later
reached a consent judgement, approved by the Court, by which New York
State would pay a total of $8.9 million in full satisfaction of the jury
verdict.

Had the SCOC Correction Medical Review Board received the autopsy photo-
graphs, they might have been able to make timely and life-saving recom-
mendations related to limiting the use of batons by DOCCS Correction
Officers. In addition, the individual COs involved might have been
subjected to employee discipline or, possibly, criminal charges, had
this information been made known in a timely manner.

This Bill ensures that the proper documentation, including photographs,
is included in autopsy reports provided to DOCCS and the SCOC Correction
Medical Review Board to both monitor and reflect on how deaths can be
prevented, and to hold Correction Officers accountable when the autopsy
reports indicate excessive force.

This bill is named in honor of Terry Cooper in recognition of his trag-
ic, unnecessary, untimely, and unconstitutional death in 2016 in a NYS
facility at the hands of NYS Correction Officers. The intention is to
correct a gap in the law, to bring light to this tragedy, and to draw
attention to the lack of proper accountability regarding the improper
use of force by COs in this case. The hope is that this will help to
make sure such tragic events do not recur, that the SCOC has the infor-
mation it needs to fulfill its function, and that DOCCS staff who engage
in unconstitutional brutality are timely held accountable. In addition,
the State is paying $8.9 million due to an incident that should not have
happened. The hope is that this bill will ultimately save the State
money.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Enactment of this bill will save the State money as it will help to
avoid costly litigation.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The ninetieth day after it shall become law.