Pepper Spray Used On California Prisoner Who Relied On Breathing Tube: Inmate 'Then Removed Tube' And Died - Inquiry Opened

Inmate Joseph Duran.
(CA Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

By Paige St. John
A federal judge Thursday agreed to hear evidence in the death of a California prison inmate who, while on suicide watch, was pepper sprayed by guards because he refused to remove his hands from his cell door.

The inmate relied on a breathing tube, which he removed after being sprayed, and he died some eight hours later in what prison officials initially ruled a potential suicide, corrections reports show. The man's parents have accused prison officials of attempting a cover-up in the case, an allegation California prison officials adamantly deny.

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