Opinion ID: 1385884
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Kuntz

Text: On January 13, 2003, Walter Kuntz was involved in a minor automobile accident and was apprehended at a convenience store after leaving the scene. Kuntz struggled briefly with officers during the arrest and complained about an injury to his lip. When Kuntz was brought to the jail at 3:30 p.m., the only injuries noted were a discoloration of his lips and an abrasion to his forehead. It was later estimated that Kuntz's blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest was .26. Booked without incident, Kuntz was placed in the detox cell. A short while later, Kuntz began screaming and banging on the cell door. Marlowe told him to be quiet, but Kuntz would not. When Marlowe and Finley entered the cell, Kuntz threw a roll of toilet paper at Marlowe. Marlowe punched Kuntz in the left side of his head, threw him toward the wall, and kicked, punched, and kneed Kuntz in the rib area. Kuntz was screaming when they left the cell, but quieted down for about 30 minutes before continuing to bang on the cell door. Finley testified that Marlowe got more agitated, then went back into the cell with Finley and another officer named Donald Willis. Willis testified that Kuntz was standing up, but was not aggressive. Marlowe struck Kuntz in the left temple area, knocking him down, and then punched and kicked Kuntz some more. Willis sprayed Kuntz with a chemical agent as they left the cell. Kuntz was quiet for a time, but then started to yell and kick the cell door again. Hale testified that at approximately 5:00 p.m., Marlowe told him that he had already hit Kuntz in the head and instructed Hale to take care of the situation. Hale understood Marlowe to mean that he should do whatever it took to make Kuntz stop beating the door. This time, Hale, Finley, and Willis went into the detox cell. Kuntz backed away, and Hale pushed him onto the bench next to the wall. The right side of Kuntz's head was facing Hale and the left side was four or five inches from the wall. Hale admitted that he delivered three or four full power punches to the right side of Kuntz's head. Each time, the left side of Kuntz's head bounced off the wall and made a cracking sound. The officers left Kuntz holding his head and moaning. Hale told Marlowe that he had taken care of it. Willis took a call from Kuntz's mother, who advised him that Kuntz had undergone brain surgery a year or two earlier. Willis told Hale and Marlowe about the call. Hale looked worried, but nothing was done. When Hale returned to the cell at 6:00 p.m. to advise Kuntz of the charges, Kuntz was conscious but did not respond to Hale. Between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m., Hale returned and found Kuntz lying on the bench, passed out in his own vomit. Marlowe and Hale had an inmate clean Kuntz up and turn him so he would not choke if he vomited again. Kuntz was not responsive, but no medical attention was ordered. Marlowe testified that he thought Kuntz was extremely drunk and might have taken some pills. Between 8:45 and 9:00 p.m., Hale went into the cell and found that Kuntz had vomited again. Hale and Marlowe cleaned him up and tried to rouse him by shaking him, patting him, and pouring a bucket of ice water over him. Kuntz did not move or show any signs of consciousness. Hale and Marlowe used ammonia smelling salts, which did not rouse him. They noticed that Kuntz would stop breathing until the salts were taken away. No steps were taken to get medical care at that time. In the next hour, Willis checked on Kuntz and found him lying down with his eyes open. Kuntz did not respond to being shaken or having a light shone in his eyes. Willis alerted Marlowe, but nothing was done. At 10:00 p.m., Hale suggested that they call his father, who was a judicial commissioner [2] and had some EMT experience. Marlowe agreed. Hale's father arrived at approximately 11:00 p.m., and recommended that they call an ambulance. At that time, Hale told Finley not to worry about writing a report because he and Marlowe would take care of it. When the ambulance arrived a little after 11:30 p.m., the EMTs evaluated Kuntz and determined that he was a level three on the level of consciousness scalethe same level as a deceased person. The EMTs had been dispatched for a case of possible alcohol poisoning, and neither Marlowe nor Hale told the EMTs or Hale's father that Kuntz had received repeated blows to the head. There was evidence that if the EMTs had known that Kuntz might have a head injury, he would have been airlifted directly to a trauma center. Instead, Kuntz went to a local medical center. Upon examination, doctors noted that Kuntz was wet and his body temperature was ten degrees' below normal. After a brain scan, Kuntz was then flown to a trauma center. A neurosurgeon evaluated Kuntz, who was on a ventilator and had no brain stem reflexes. The doctor concluded that Kuntz had a very large subdural hematoma that had caused irreversible brain damage. He added that Kuntz's low body temperature had exacerbated his condition because it interfered with normal clotting. Kuntz died when he was removed from the ventilator two days later. [3] Several doctors testified at trial that Kuntz's head injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma, and that such injuries are generally treatable if medical attention is sought in the first hours after a brain injury. It was also explained that within an hour of injury a person with a subdural hematoma would start to experience a progression of symptoms such as dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, lethargy, and eventually unresponsiveness.