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Shackles on legs of inmate

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Just when you thought you’ve heard it all there’s something else that shows you another level or craziness could be obtained. Recently a story was released by NBC News about a former inmate name Thomas Lee Rutledge who was “baked to death” while incarcerated. Rutledge who was sentenced to a life for crimes committed in 1995 was an inmate at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama. According to a lawsuit filed by his sister, Rutledge was found unresponsive in a mental health cell and had an internal temperature of 109 degrees.

It is noted in the lawsuit that the HVAC company was negligent in making sure the inmates had adequate heating and cooling while serving their sentences. According to NBC News, ” Prior to Rutledge’s death, an HVAC company “negligently or wantonly damaged or destroyed the thermostatic controls” for the unit he was in. After the controls had been disabled, the temperature of the water in the boiler, which is used to heat the air, became unregulated.”

It is also noted that the plant maintenance knew the thermostat was defective and failed to service it. He did, however, destroy the logs containing the boiler’s temperatures, which in court would be deemed as “tampering with evidence.”

If Rutledge would’ve survived his time in the correctional facility, he would have become eligible for release in 2024.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmQfTfoMYS-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link