November 10, 2007
Carol Gotbaum Autopsy Reveals Alcohol, Drug Use
The Maricopa County medical examiner found that the death of a New Yorker in police custody at the Phoenix airport was an accident. Carol Gotbaum, who was flying from NYC to Tucson with a stopover in Phoenix, died of "asphyxia by hanging" on September 28.
Gotbaum, stepdaughter-in-law of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been traveling alone to check into alcohol rehabilitation. When she missed her connection to Tucson, she became upset and disruptive, and the Phoenix police took her into custody. She was found dead in her holding cell, with a chain wrapped around her neck. Gotbaum's family has questioned the police's treatment (Gotbaum was emotionally fragile) and have hired their own lawyer and pathologist to investigate her death. In turn, the Phoenix police have released surveillance video of Gotbaum in the airport as well as 200 pages of details and interviews with witnesses.
The medical examiner also noted that the 45-year-old's blood alcohol was 0.24, three times the legal limit of 0.08 in Arizona (as well as New York), making her severely intoxicated. Prescription drugs were also detected. Phoenix police spokesman Andy Hill said, "If your blood alcohol is three times the legal limit for driving, if they have prescription drugs that are part of their system, that's going to cause problems."
The findings also prompted the Gotbaum's lawyer, Michael Manning, to say, "The autopsy confirmed that Carol Anne died because she was confined to that holding tank, shackled to the bench and then ignored until it was too late to help her...She was obviously a very sick citizen. She had been drinking and was distraught." He told the Arizona Republic it's more likely he'll "file a claim - the first step toward a lawsuit - against the city" but he also told the NY Times that he was hoping to meet with the police before Christmas to discuss a settlement: "He said he was not sure what he would consider a satisfactory settlement, but the options include an apology, an agreement by the Phoenix police to adjust their policies or a monetary settlement."
You can read the autopsy (PDF) and toxicological (PDF) reports. While the Phoenix police have supported their officers' actions, there is still an internal investigation into their procedures.
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so long selfish bitch!
not sorry to see you gone!
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She was a sick and fragile person who needed help, but was sent alone cross-country for treatment. And the person most responsible for her well-being was the husband who let her go alone should be compensated? Maybe he should adjust his policies.
I would love to see him go to court, take the stand and explain this.
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These finding are exactly what is going to lead to a finding of negligence in civil court. Just focus on the fact that she was *obviously* a danger to herself (hmm, three times over the legal limit, officer, but you couldn't tell?)
And mind you, they also state that she strangled herself on the PD's shackles, as opposed to having a heart attack or choking on her own vomit or something. Seems quite dumb of the dept to present this as exculpatory.
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This is really a sad story. I place the blame squarely on the overzealous police of Tuscon.
#1, she was a Wife and Mother to three children (Ella, Nathaniel and Tobias). Your comment was not only offensive, but also thoughtless, cruel and obnoxious. You're a sick person and you need help.
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#4. SO the family that let her go alone is not responsible at all??? The fact that she was a wife and mother has nothing to do with anything. In fact, the fact that she was a wife and mother means they should have been more careful with her fragility.
Did the cops screw up? Maybe, but it's not their overzealousness that did it, it would be their negligence. Her family bears some of the blame too though. She should not have been alone, pure and simple, and had she been accompanied, she'd be alive and in rehab today.
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A person who is not stable doesn't travel along. Her family is to blame for her being dead.
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"She was a sick and fragile person who needed help, but was sent alone cross-country for treatment."
"A person who is not stable doesn't travel along. Her family is to blame for her being dead."
"SO the family that let her go alone is not responsible at all???"
So very, very true! What a world we live in where people like the Gottbaum family are so quick to hire a lawyer to turn their own negligence into a huge cash payday. Acting this way gives all the Jews a bad name. Shame on them!
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i think #1 is right, oh thats me,
lucky she didnt drop dead of alcohol poisoning in front of Ella, Nathaniel and Tobias...
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they shouldn't pay the family a penny. she brought this upon herself and her family should of been watching her.
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The situation is much more complex than some posters seem to realize. As the TIMES reported when the story first broke, Carol was a South African by birth, who met her husband in London, where they married and lived for most of their married life. She traveled frequently to South Africa to care for her father, to whom she was very close. Then, only a few weeks apart, her husband proposed moving to New York, where he had been offered a highly remunerative job, and her father, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, moved to a hospice and failed to recognize her.
Despite the generous displays of affection from her husband's family, she felt un-moored in New York and turned to chemical solace. Her husband and his family urged her to seek therapy -- hence those prescription drugs -- and ultimately the trip to a long-term rehab center in Arizona.
She was originally booked on a non-stop flight, but asked for a change to the connecting flight at the last minute so that she could take her children -- whom she did not expect to see again for several months -- to school the morning she left. Her husband called friends in Phoenix, asking them to meet her at the airport and make sure she made the connection. They arrived far too late -- she was dead by the time they reached the airport, let alone made it through security -- blaming traffic for the 2-hour delay.
It's clear they did not understand the importance of their presence. The husband should have made a greater effort, but his options were limited and he clearly wanted to avoid embarrassing his wife.
All that being said, the Phoenix police should have recognized that Mrs. Gotbaum was seriously disturbed -- the tape released to the public makes that all too clear -- and should not have left her unsupervised. I predict the family will get a substantial settlement.
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matthews...
the OBVIOUS is that this bitch is self centered loser who had everyone catering to her selfishness..and everyone who came in contact with her was expected to cater to her and post death, the sob story makes all you keyboard losers who never had contact with her claim that everyone else involved should have treated her better!
if it was a black dude in a doo rag wearing saggy jeans having a fit on the subway you woudlnt be trying to explain away his self medication and misery and talking about his three kids sheniqua, chantelle, tenisha, and his sick uncle tyronne.
wake up...
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If she was driving would it be ok to rough her up and handcuff her?
when will anybody admit that she was a looney endangering the public?
imagine a pooor nyc family trying to coordinate getting MTA & NYPD on the line to handle poor sick black doorag dude having a fit on the subway...trying to get relatives to meet him on atlantic avenue before he hops on the local train??????????????
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ihateallbrokers: per your comment #1, maybe people will feel that same way about you when you die - if they have any feelings at all.
Per your comment #12 - she was a tiny, sick woman with only a cell phone as a "weapon" - hardly a "looney endgangering the public". The Phoenix police (#4 - it was not the Tucson police) exercised severely poor judgement in handling her - and I hope they pay in civil court. And if nothing else, this tragedy will force them to address their protocol for dealing with this kind of situation.
"With great power comes great responsibility" - the Phoenix police had the power to subdue her, they failed in their responsibility to treat her humanely.
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While this is a tragedy to be sure, I don't see how it is the fault of the Tucson police. How many stories have we heard of people who are drunk who are not allowed to board planes, or act disruptively on the flight itself? Couple that with Gotbaum's outrageous behavior at the airport (screaming/throwing things) and the police did the only thing they could, which was restrain her and put her in a cell to sober up.
She couldn't just sit there and stay put, but tried to manipulate her hands to free them, killing herself in the process. The police said they checked on her every 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, death by asphyxiation can happen in 1-2 minutes.
The family needs to accept some personal responsibility and not look for someone additional to blame.
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"The police said they checked on her every 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, death by asphyxiation can happen in 1-2 minutes."
Right, so their supervision of the prisoner was inadequate. Other professionals have commented here on Gothamist that their particular method of restraint was not standard. Seriously, I wish I was the lawyer on this case - looks like an easy payday.
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"Despite the generous displays of affection from her husband's family, she felt un-moored in New York and turned to chemical solace."
i don't think moving to new york is an excuse to drink yourself to death.
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then again...
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Lets see, three times the legal limit of booze, prescription drugs....chokes herself on her own handcuffs. You know who is repsonsible for here death? She is. And now she's dead. If she wasnt a lunatic and behaved like an asshole, none of this would have happened. PD followed the book, they will get nothing. All you bleedin heart bitches, why dont you give them some money ahhahahaha
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Despite the generous displays of affection from her husband's family, she felt un-moored in New York and turned to chemical solace.
Is this a statement from her public advocate mother-in-law's spokesman?
Maybe her husband should have paid a little more attention to her rather than throwing money and social parties at her.
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NOT SORRY YOUR GONE!
BYEBYE DRUNK STUPID WHITE BIYOTCH!
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I believe she was also suicidal. What do people expect when someone goes ballistic in a public space, marshmallo handcuffs?
And what does all that shit about her father, and her moving from South Africa have to do with any of this? She was a drunk suicidal mother who was mixing drugs with alcohol on her way to rehabilitation and she lost it, the police restrained her and she committed Hari Kari. End of story. The blame belongs firmly on her loser husband.
One must ask of the thousands of drunks and drug addicts locked up everyday, how many die in custody? I'm not talking in the first half hour of a lock up, I'm asking in the first twentyfour hours.
Her friends showed up late at the airport because of traffic? Probably because they were having a few pre arrival cocktails themselves.
I just feel sorry for the kids to have had a mother and father such as them.
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her family is trying to blame the police dept for her death.when it was clearly their fault for letting her travel alone.especially if they knew she was so unstable.or she probably insisted on going alone so she could get plastered one more time before entering rehab. the police officers treated her like they would have treated any other person that was acting irrational and uncontrolable.witnesess say police asked her to calm down several times before taking her into custody.her rich family thinks she should have got special treatment.and are trying to find someone to point the finger at.just stop the bullshit and admit it was YOUR OWN FAULT!!!!! for letting a drunk fly alone.hope you feel guilty for the rest of your life.
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I hope she finds the peace and love she was looking for in her next life. It's obvious she could not find it in this one.
It's nobodies fault.
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I am all about second chances. This woman could have turned her life around if the police were not overzealous during her arrest. This is a very sad incident. She could had been saved.
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