The workers were holding him down “from his braids down to his toes,” she said.īy the 4:39 p.m. “He certainly did not deserve to be smothered to death, which is what happened,” Baskervill said in court Tuesday. Otieno’s shirtless body is obscured at times by those restraining him or standing in front of the camera. He is quickly hauled toward a seat before eventually slumping to the floor, initially in a seated position then lying flat.Īs time passes, an increasing number of workers hold him down as he appears to start to move on the floor. By 4:19 p.m., a different camera shows him being forcibly led into a room with tables and chairs. The Associated Press obtained it and other footage Tuesday through a link included in a public court filing made by Baskervill.Īccording to timestamps in the footage, which was first reported by The Washington Post, an SUV carrying Otieno arrived at the hospital just before 4 p.m. Just in case: Anxious retirees, social service groups among those making default contingency plansĪttorneys for at least two of the defendants sought to block the video’s release, arguing that it could hinder a fair trial. Attorneys for many of the defendants have said they will vigorously fight the charges. Otenio’s family said he was brutally mistreated, both at the state hospital and while in law enforcement custody in the preceding days. Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s death. For most of that duration, the 28-year-old Black man is on the floor being held down by a fluctuating group that at one point appeared to reach 10 people. The footage obtained Tuesday, which has no audio, shows various members of the group attempting to restrain a handcuffed and shackled Otieno for about 20 minutes after he’s led into a room at Central State Hospital, where he was going to be admitted March 6. (AP) - A large group of sheriff’s deputies and employees of a Virginia mental hospital pinned patient Irvo Otieno to the floor earlier this month until he was motionless and limp, then began unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, newly obtained surveillance video shows.

MAVERICKS by Francis Otieno