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The lawyer for the family of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York resident who died while in police custody at the Phoenix airport last Friday, continued to blast the Maricopa County medical examiner's office as well as question police tactics. Gotbaum, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, had become agitated when she missed the flight. Since they were unable to calm her, police arrested her and left her handcuffed to a bench in a holding cell. She died during, apparently from strangling herself on her shackles, perhaps in an attempt to get out. Lawyer Michael Manning (pictured) said the Gotbaum family "has no quarrel whatsoever with police intervening. It's the way they intervened. You don't tackle, shackle and cuff (without first talking to her)."
Gotbaum lived on the Upper West Side with her husband and three children; she was also the daughter-in-law of union head Victor Gotbaum and stepdaughter-in-law of NYC's Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Because of the NYC - and national - media interest in her death, the Phoenix police department has been less forthcoming with information. The Arizona Republic reports, "Investigators have refused to disclose basic information that would normally be public record, including the names of the officers and witnesses, as well as the police report." But the police have said that Gotbaum hurled her PDA, nearly hitting another person, while she was upset about missing her flight. Some more details, via the Republic:
- Officers at Terminal 4 left Gotbaum shackled and alone in the holding room because they did not believe she was a danger to herself or to others, the standard used to determine whether a detainee should be under constant watch.Manning claimed that a witness saw a "docile" Gotbaum being carried by the police: "The woman said Gotbaum 'was noncombative, not resisting. She wondered if she was dead,' the lawyer said." But the police say that accounts of a "noncombative" Gotbaum are untrue and, according to the NY Times, that a video will reveal all - though it's unclear when the video will be released.
- Police made desperate efforts to revive the woman, using lifesaving techniques and a defibrillator. At one point, police said, "The officers began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR. . . . Ms. Gotbaum vomited into one officer's mouth. The officer spit up himself but continued to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."
- Officers were unaware that the woman suffered from alcoholism or was seeking treatment. They knew only that, after missing her connecting flight, Gotbaum became agitated, screamed and resisted as she was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct."Officers did everything they could to save the life of a citizen," [police spokesman Sergeant Andy] Hill wrote. "The officers had no knowledge of any of Ms. Gotbaum's personal issues."
Gotbaum's body is being released to her family, but Manning is also upset at the medical examiner for not releasing "key organs" - her heart, brain and neck muscles. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner says keeping the brain for further testing is not unusual, though keeping the heart and neck is more uncommon (the ME's office initial findings said the cause of death was asphyxiation). Manning, who has worked on other cases where inmates have died while in custody, said the medical examiner's office "destroyed evidence, lost evidence, changed evidence and created evidence (in those cases). We were not going to take the chance that something like that would happen again. There is a very tight relationship between law-enforcement and medical-examiner offices everywhere in the country, including Phoenix."
Gotbaum's family has publicly suggested that she was manhandled by the police (she weighed 105 pounds) and a private investigator who observed the autopsy on behalf of the family said her body had many bruises. They hired another pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht, who also performed an autopsy. His report is expected in the next few weeks.
The NY Times also reported that Gotbaum was originally planning on taking a direct flight to Tucson, but decided on a later flight that connected in Phoenix because "she wanted to say goodbye to her three children, two of whom were attending a new grammar school."
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I have no compassion for drunks. While I commend her attempting to get help by going to rehab, you should never yell/fight/scream/throw things/ challenge police in an airport--especially in this crazy post-9/11 world.
However, I would love to this video...
why is the AZ police being so secretive?
what do they have to hide? why are they keeping the vital organs, the ones that could make or break this case.
what do they have to hide?
are they telling the truth or have something to hide?
are they not telling the public everything?
are they hiding evidence? altering evidence?
destroying evidence?
Why so secretive? what are they hiding?
I'm so sick of this story.
Why do people go to rehab? Because alcoholism leads to an untimely, unnecessary, humiliating death.
Police officers are not substance abuse counselors; that's why if you run into them before you get to the hospital, you're probably going to be SOL.
No sympathy for a drunk here either, but out of sheer NY snobbery, I am hoping for great embarrassement to the Phoenix PD -- stupid redneck hicks that they are.
Nice toupee.
Her family is really to blame for this. She should not have been traveling alone. She needed more help. The police were not aware of her history - but her family was. They felt "safe" letting her go alone, because she was meeting a friend in Phoenix, but the friend didn't show - if you ask me, I don't think there ever was a friend. I think the family were so frustrated with this woman they were just glad to see her go, but now they are embarrassed and trying to cover up their own guilt by blaming the police. I
So she whips her PDA across the terminal and the cops don't think she is a potential danger to herself or others?
I think a big payout from Phoenix to the Gotbaum family is forthcoming no matter how you cut it- the cops f'd up!
This has the makings of a coverup. Too many inconsistencies.
This psycho screamed, flailed her arms, and attacked passengers, including throwing items at a baby in a stroller.
So much for being a "sick mom".
But people like her don't care about the consequences when it affects "goys".
I'm glad she's dead. The police were too lenient when it comes to people like this.
as someone who works in the hospitality industry, i can only imagine ms. gotbaum's atrocious behavior for the cops to have been called. the cops do not get involved in normal situations. i am so sick of people throwing fits in public places thinking they can get away with it because they are rich. the gotbaum family should really look at ms. gotbaum's past behavior before deciding to sue the phoenix pd. but i bet they will sue anyway.
She strangled herself and now she's dead. A drink looks like a good alternative.
#10-
Airports are much different than your average hospitality industry. Having traveled my whole life, what before 9/11 warranted bringing a manager to apologize now warrants arresting someone and throwing the book at them.
Last time I traveled, a woman sitting next to me complained 3 times that her seat was slipping off and when she raised her voice the 3rd time they said she was threatening the staff (she wasn't) and had airport police waiting for her at the gate.
The issue here is under-trained over-zealous staff being given too much authority in situations they are not prepared for. While this case is regrettable due to her actions, it brings up a general theme that's troublesome.
If all you idiots saying she should have died think it is acceptable that someone arrested for unruly conduct should end up dead in cell should go live in the fascist regimes they must truly cherish.
Does anyone else think its wholly inappropriate for this "NYC Public Advocate" (WTF is that anyways?) to be using her professional office for personal matters?
Vomiting into the mouth of our policemen trying to save her life and then the family sues, isn't that the definition of a g_ddamned liberal?
#13, I totally agree. Would Ms. Gotbaum's death be such a media frenzy if it weren't for her so-called powerful family connections?
What about the fact she was getting drunk and didn't hear the final boarding call. Nice way to start rehab getting drunk. This woman was a PRIVILEDGED SPOILED OUT OF CONTROL BRAT.
All of these people have opinions on what or how the situation should have been handled but the best way would have been how they did it in the old movies by slapping some sense into her. The old back hand across the face would have stunned her into silence.
what are the AZ police department hiding?
if what they say is true, release the tapes NOW.
why hold it if you're innocent of any wrongdoing.
hell, leak it out if you want.
what are they hiding? what aren't they telling us.
As someone who lives in the United States of America, I can only observe that this is day 6 of you people just don't get it. NO NONE CARES if you personally have a tolerance problem with Jews, redheads, women, lefties, people from the uws, drunks, etc. NO ONE. Keep it to yourself. The issue here is one of civil liberties and the ultimate intentions of civilization as it evolves-specifically American-style...you're not supposed to die while the cops have you. It's a big fucking deal when someone-ANYONE does. A-N-Y-O-N-E. Even stunted little emotional cripples like most of the posters on this topic.
Family friends were to meet her at Sky Harbor but never made the connection.
Obviously they couldn't handle being around her either.
chuzzlewipe I am so glad that you are above the stunted little emotional cripples that post on here.
but to me with your catty name calling you are talking about yourself.
If the videotape shows what the AZ police says it does, why aren't they showing it?
what about the officers involved, why don't we know who they are? Why are they hiding or why keep them hidden?
What are they hiding?
If I was an airline passenger behind the security checkpoint curtain and any individual, regardless of gender or size, was making a scene such as what apparently happened here, I would expect nothing less than immediate, physical and urgent police intervention.
Since she was to the point of screaming and throwing things, the treatment she got was appropriate. Even if an extra two or three or five minutes passed with no one checking on her, she shouldn’t have been trying to extricate herself from her restraints.
I could even forgive a momentary lapse of judgment wherein one might cause a brief scene upon missing a flight, especially one so obviously important to her. But this went on far longer than that. She acted like a self-centered, violent, spoiled child for a long period of time.
Unless some bombshell hits about police mistreatment, which does not appear likely, Ms. Gotbaum is solely responsible for her fate.
Lest anyone think I am being insensitive to the specifics, I am a recovering alcoholic with long-term sobriety. Alcohol has torn much of my family to pieces. I fully understand all of the emotional and physical ramifications of what she might have been going through. At the end of the day though, we are responsible for the results of our own behavior.
I grieve for her children as they will someday read all of what has been written about this. They deserved better than they got here but I am not sure I can say that Ms. Gotbaum did.
All indications are that she flagrantly violated the law in the most sensitive of places and then violently refused to accept the results of that behavior. Being under the influence of alcohol or experiencing the results of withdrawal does not excuse this anymore than it would excuse the drunken driver who kills someone, the psychotic who commits a crime because he refused his medication, etc…
I was flying out of JFK one night and a woman had had a few too many drinks, they had oversold the flight by about 20 seats and she was one of the people being bumped off the flight. She screamed at the desk agent, huffed and puffed, made a huge stink and the desk agent calmly ignored her and calmly anwered her when she asked coherent questions.
In the end she demanded to speak with his supervisor and he sent her out the security doors, letting the rest of the waiting passengers know once she had left that she would have to go through security to get back in.
The point of this wandering story is that he knew how to do his job without overreacting, but somehow the people working at the Phoenix airport didn't know how to do theirs.
This is a total overreaction by the police department, and chuzzlewit is right that anyone dying while in police custody should merit a thorough investigation of what happened.
And all this crap about how in a post 9/11 world we all have to walk on egg-shells in airports is just that, crap. People are always stressed when they travel, people have always thrown fits in airports, it happens all the time, let's try to deal with it without arresting people, grounding planes and closing airports for hours.
so true, how those things stay up in the air is beyond me.
the other night the NGC had on two plane crash stories back to back. Seconds to Disaster and Air Emergency.
Police officers are paid to act rationally and calmly when others are not. If you cannot handle a drunk arrest in an airport after the person has already been screened and searched without causing violent injury then you have a real problem. If you cannot dodge a flying pda thrown by said supposed drunk person, then you have a problem. If you cannot
take insults, vulgarity, and other profanities hurled at you by a citizen, then you have a problem and should not be a police officer.
Perhaps we should maybe wait for the video and lab results, rather than going nuts with the conspiracy theories right away?
Not that I trust the police, as her death in custody is odd....but I have no problem with her getting restrained, as she was violent and throwing metal items at people (which is assault whether you like it or not - legally) It was their job to remove her at that point. If she had hurt another passenger, the airport would be liable for not taking her into custody. The act of assault - throwing that PDA - is why she was arrested, and fighting people tends to bruise one up a bit.
Wait for the evidence. So far nothing is being hidden, it's just a lot of conjecture from the family - who I feel bad for - but they were not there, neither was their lawyer. Testing takes time.
And I agree, losing ones sh*t shouldn't result in death, but it did in this case. Most of us know drunks, have awful travel stories etc....but this was a pointless and pathetic way to die.
No, the police are paid to enforce the law. Throwing objects with the potential to cause bodily harm is not legal. If you want to move to Phoenix and make it legal to throw objects at people irrespective of the consequences, that is your right. The people of a sovereign state enacted laws prohibiting this behavior. It is not the prerogative of you or the police to determine if that law is just or not.
Exactly right #28! There are laws - and she threw it at another person, not the cops. Reportedly at a stroller. Nice.
Frankly if some drunk went nuts, acted violently and threw something at me for no reason I would want the cops to arrest them too.
HEY, AZ PD, what are you HIDING!
Why So Secretive?
Why are you Hiding so much information?
Is there a cover up? why are you covering things up?
Phoenix PD just released a short videotape.
only shows mrs. gotbaum trying to get away from 4 cops, took her down and brought her to her death cell.
view was from at least 35-40 feet away, it's a very large airport.
you can't just kill white women.
Phoenix police had this video and have been sitting on it. (editing it). Video's don't lie. Unless they've been carefully screened and edited.
Police witheld the neck,brain and heart from the independent forensic pathologist. Why the neck?
Police are busy scripting their story. I've seen this before, it does happen. Oh my, no it can't. Police would never protect themselves.
Look,
As someone who works for an NYC Agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct, I can say that after viewing what I was able to see of the video tape, the police acted within their authority to arrest Ms. Gotbaum and did so using a minimum amount of force. She did resist the officers and she was creating a disturbance in a busy part of the airport. It is a tragedy that she died, but let's not forget that she was an independent agent in this situation and that she is ultimately responsible for her conduct. Now, as for wht happened in the cells, I cannot be sure as there are not (and rightfully so) camera's in the cell area of the airport's command. Let's save the "fascist" comments for a situation that actually merits it, and let's all treat another adult like an adult and stop minimizing her responsibility for being arrested. And lastly, her lawyer's description of the police's tactics as "tackled, shackle, and cuff," are ridiculous. She was never tackled, she clerly dropped to the ground to evade arrest. Let's please, please, be adults and stop blaming the arresting officers for doing their job in what appears to be professional manner.
Look,
As someone who works for an NYC Agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct, I can say that after viewing what I was able to see of the video tape, the police acted within their authority to arrest Ms. Gotbaum and did so using a minimum amount of force. She did resist the officers and she was creating a disturbance in a busy part of the airport. It is a tragedy that she died, but let's not forget that she was an independent agent in this situation and that she is ultimately responsible for her conduct. Now, as for wht happened in the cells, I cannot be sure as there are not (and rightfully so) camera's in the cell area of the airport's command. Let's save the "fascist" comments for a situation that actually merits it, and let's all treat another adult like an adult and stop minimizing her responsibility for being arrested. And lastly, her lawyer's description of the police's tactics as "tackled, shackle, and cuff," are ridiculous. She was never tackled, she clerly dropped to the ground to evade arrest. Let's please, please, be adults and stop blaming the arresting officers for doing their job in what appears to be professional manner.
holy crap, the AZ PD are hiding a lot of stuff.
they showed where she was held and it's just a room with a metal door, remember all they showed before was a picture of the electronic lock and handle.
the door does not have a window and there's no cameras inside.
talk about your BIG COVER UP.
So, was she Cuffed, Shackled, or chained? I would think the Police would be very specific, show us her cuffs and shackles.
Why are they hiding so much?
Why are the Police being so secretive? if they're innocent, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
That is a horrible color on a lawyer. Who wears a Yellow Polo in an interview? Vomit.
Police brutality at airports is out of control. Especially when the police beat up/kill young women and mothers. This is similar to the police beating of the young woman at Reagan National Airport in DC except she suffered brain damage and is still alive. My thoughts and prayers go out to Carol Ann Gotbaum's family. http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPNmxZwhMag