In The Matter Of:

Nicole Lurry vs

City of Joliet

Charles Drago

April 22, 2022

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Original File 4-22-22_Charles Drago.txt

Min-U-Script® with Word Index Ex. 24

Case: 1:20-cv-04545 Document #: 124-20 Filed: 06/15/23 Page 1 of 2 PageID #:2946 Case: 1:20-cv-04545 Document #: 78-2 Filed: 08/18/22 Page 1 of 73 PageID #:851
Nicole Lurry vs

City of Joliet

Charles Drago

April 22, 2022

Page 149

 1 A. Yes. That's a question? Yes.

 2 Q. Yes. Okay. And sorry if it was a crummy

 3 question. That would be my fault, Mr. Drago.

 4 A. That's okay.

 5 Q. Have you in your law enforcement career

 6 ever heard of a technique of pinching an

 7 individual's nose in order to get that person to

 8 open their mouth?

 9 A. I've heard of it being done but I've

10 never seen it being done, but I've heard of it

11 being done.

12 Q. And in what context or how have you --

13 other than this case -- have you heard of it being

14 done?

15 A. To get someone to open their mouth.

16 Q. And have you heard of EMT's or paramedics

17 ever using a technique of pinching a person's nose

18 in order to get someone to open their mouth?

19 A. No, never.

20 Q. Would you be surprised if a medical

21 doctor were to testify that yes, it is a

22 recognized medical technique to pinch someone's

23 nose in order to get them to open their mouth?

24 A. Well, I would think it would -- it

Page 150

 1 wouldn't surprise me that a doctor can do a lot of

 2 things that the police can't do. But it

 3 wouldn't -- so if a doctor does it, that's fine.

 4 He's obviously trained in what to do and he's in a

 5 secure environment where he can -- has access to

 6 medical equipment, et cetera. That is not what

 7 police officers are trained to do.

 8 Q. All right. So as I understand it, it

 9 wouldn't surprise you if a doctor were to say that

10 pinching a nose to open a mouth is a recognized

11 medical technique?

12 A. Well, I don't know. I don't know if it

13 was or not. If a doctor says that's what he does,

14 that's what he does.

15 Q. During the time that Mr. Lurry is in the

16 back seat of a car at the Joliet Police Department

17 do you know exactly where in Mr. Lurry's mouth the

18 bag or baggies of drugs were located?

19 A. It looked like he's in the right side of

20 his mouth.

21 Q. Other than the general vicinity of the

22 right side of his mouth can you tell from the

23 video where those baggies are?

24 A. I don't understand.

Page 151

 1 Q. If a person has baggies of drugs in their

 2 mouth, the baggies could be on the right side of

 3 their mouth, they could be on the left side of

 4 their mouth, it could be under their tongue, it

 5 could be towards the back of the mouth, it could

 6 be a variety of locations inside the mouth cavity,

 7 correct?

 8 A. You mean because there's so many of them

 9 they could be all through his mouth or --

10 Q. We could get there, but I'm asking a more

11 general question. If a person has drugs, baggies

12 containing drugs in their mouth, they can be in

13 different locations within the human mouth cavity,

14 correct?

15 A. In general, yes.

16 MS. BAKOS: Objection to the extent

17 this calls for some sort of an opinion about the

18 different areas of the mouth I guess. This is not

19 an expert. A medical expert. But go ahead.

20 BY MR. MATHUES: 

21 Q. And are you -- my question is just simply

22 are you able to tell, Mr. Drago, where within

23 Lurry's mouth the baggies are located until you

24 see them being pulled out?

Page 152

 1 A. I can make an educated guess because I

 2 could see his cheek swollen out at times. So it

 3 looked to me, having seen this many times, like

 4 he's got it in his right cheek whenever we were

 5 able to see it in the video.

 6 Q. And do you know whether any of those

 7 baggies, in fact, seal at any point? Strike it.

 8 That's a bad question. Do you know whether at any

 9 point the drug baggies in Mr. Lurry's mouth sealed

10 off the back of his throat?

11 A. No, I don't. I don't know that.

12 Q. And do you know Mr. Lurry's breathing

13 rate at the time the officers are encountering Mr.

14 Lurry in the back seat of his car?

15 A. No, I don't.

16 Q. On paragraph 70 of your report -- it's

17 Exhibit Number Two -- the last sentence -- next to

18 the last sentence -- you make the statement

19 Sergeant May was more concerned about preserving

20 evidence in his criminal case than about Lurry's

21 safety. Did I read that accurately?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. How do you know that Sergeant May's

24 particular concern was evidence preservation?

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(38) Pages 149 - 152

Case: 1:20-cv-04545 Document #: 124-20 Filed: 06/15/23 Page 2 of 2 PageID #:2947 Case: 1:20-cv-04545 Document #: 78-2 Filed: 08/18/22 Page 39 of 73 PageID #:889