Related article:
Boston police face inquiry after arrest, death
By Shelley Murphy and Stephanie Ebbert
Boston Globe
BOSTON — Boston police officers did not use excessive force and were not to blame for the death of David Woodman, a 22-year-old Emmanuel College student who stopped breathing after police arrested him during the Celtics championship celebration last June and died later, prosecutors said.
On the seven-month anniversary of Woodman’s death, Daniel F. Conley, the Suffolk district attorney, announced yesterday that Woodman, after being arrested for public drinking, suffered an arrhythmia as a result of a preexisting heart condition.
His parents, Jeffrey and Cathy Woodman of Southwick, reacted angrily after a meeting with Conley yesterday, saying they cannot believe that police are blameless in their son’s death. They said their son, who had heart surgery as an infant, led an active lifestyle and never suffered an arrhythmia before.
“I think it’s a little unrealistic to ask us to believe that the police did everything right,” said Cathy Woodman, a secretary, wiping away tears as she sat beside her husband during a press conference at their lawyers’ office in Boston.
She said that the family had to wait months for the results of Conley’s investigation and still does not have copies of the medical examiner’s report or other documents that support his findings.
“We just wanted information,” she said. “Now we have it, and it just sounds like a lie.”
Conley said that after reviewing the medical examiner’s report, findings of a cardiac specialist, and interviewing police and other witnesses, he concluded that Woodman’s heart condition caused his death.
“No police officer caused Mr. Woodman’s death, and no police officer used excessive force in arresting Mr. Woodman,” Conley said during a press conference at his Boston office. He said no criminal charges were warranted against the nine officers present during Woodman’s arrest. Conley said he will immediately release the entire investigative file to the Woodmans.
After watching the Celtics’ championship victory at a bar, Woodman, who lived in Brookline, was walking home June 18 with four friends and carrying a cup of beer when they passed the officers at Fenway and Brookline Avenue. One of Woodman’s friends, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Woodman said, “Wow, it seems like there’s a lot of crime on this corner.”
The friend said officers slammed Woodman to the ground and then ordered his friends to leave the area or face arrest.
But Conley concluded that Woodman would not stop for police and resisted arrest by grabbing a wrought-iron fence, requiring several officers to bring him to the ground. He was charged with public drinking and resisting arrest.
“They used a level and type of force appropriate to the resistance they encountered, and they complied with the Boston Police Department’s rules and procedures in doing so,” Conley said.
After Woodman was handcuffed behind his back, Conley said, the officers tried to get Woodman to his feet, but he could not stand. Believing he was drunk and unaware of his medical condition, police returned him to the ground, positioning him on his side, in case he vomited, Conley said.
“Within one or two minutes, they noticed that he was not breathing and had no pulse, and they immediately took action,” Conley said.
One officer began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, another performed chest compressions, a third called for an ambulance, and three more ran for an ambulance, Conley said.
The Woodmans accused police of using excessive force and neglecting their son, pointing out that by the time he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he had significant brain damage from a lack of oxygen. He regained consciousness, but days later, on June 29, he suffered another arrhythmia and died.
Conley said that Dr. James R. Stone, chief of cardiovascular pathology service at Massachusetts General Hospital and a consultant to the medical examiner in the case, found that both arrhythmias resulted from Woodman’s heart abnormalities and that the second arrhythmia would have killed him, even if the first had never occurred.
Commissioner Edward F. Davis, who was at Conley’s press conference, said later that he believed police acted appropriately.
However, police policies might change as a result of the episode, he said. For instance, he said, the nine officers who were present at Woodman’s arrest immediately went to the hospital for stress treatment, leaving a superior who did not witness the event to write the report.
Thomas Drechsler, a Boston lawyer who represents eight of the officers, said it was a very stressful situation for the officers who arrested Woodman and then tried to revive him. “They felt awful about it,” Drechsler said. “They did their best.”
The Woodmans’ lawyer, Howard Friedman, said the family will review the investigative file and consult an independent medical specialist before deciding whether to file a lawsuit against the Police Department.
Former US Attorney Donald K. Stern, tapped by Davis to conduct an independent review, said he will focus on police practices the night of the arrest.
The FBI and US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan will review the case to determine whether a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department is warranted.
Cathy Woodman said she and her husband, an elevator mechanic, will keep fighting for their son “because it’s not right that there were nine officers and one David, and all of his friends were shooed away.”
Copyright 2009 Boston Globe