Donna Brorby-Attorney at Law
660 Market Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, Calif. 94104

Dear Miss Brorby,
I have not written you in a long time, but feel this issue is something you need to be aware of.  I started to file a lawsuit over the conditions of the Terrell prison Texas death row was moved to with all the RUIZ guarantees set aside, but found that the Courts had shot down anything and everything  I was trying to raise as constitutional  error.  Meredith Rountree tried to help me with with this, but I soon saw there was little, if anything, to fight with after she sent me an extensive report out of Washington on whether "SUPERMAX PRISONS" were legal, where it showed that all my issues had  already been raised and ruled against. Meredith and I discussed that these type isolation, deprivation cells would allow men to be dying in their cells without any guards detecting it until it was too late.

It finally happened just like she and I said it would.   Tonight, a death row inmate, Eddie
Rowton, # 999343 died over these uncaring asshole's lack of doing their job.  Not just the
guards, but the sorry medical workers used by TDCJ  are to blame for the agonizing death  Eddie suffered.  I am in 12 building, " E" Pod, 11 cell and Eddie was in 14 cell on the same row as me. I want his loved ones to know I will be more than willing to testify against the state for their refusal to do anything for him as he continued to "BEG" for help and the guards did not even come to check on him until after it was too late.

The whole prison had been on lockdown for over a week and it was before lockdown that Eddie was complaining of severe chest pains.  I think it was either the 8th or the 9th of March when Eddie first started asking for help.  Robert Ramos # 999062, in 13 cell, yelled for the  picket to come check on Eddie because Eddie  "FELL DOWN" while standing at his door with Ramos standing there talking to him.  Ramos said he was trying to pass Eddie a newspaper and Eddie just fell to the floor  grabbing his chest and saying how bad it was hurting. Ramos started yelling to the picket.   It was ten minutes before they even answered Ramos. The guard in the picket made his cute little statement to Ramos: HOW DO YOU KNOW HE FELL DOWN
WHEN YOU ARE IN 13 CELL AND HE IS IN 14 CELL?   Then the guards "REFUSED TO COME CHECK ON EDDIE."   All of us guys on two row started yelling to Eddie to see if he was OK.  He did not respond and so almost everyone in this whole section started screaming to the picket.
I am rather outspoken and yelled the loudest trying to shame them in coming to check on Eddie.  I yelled:  "IF HE DIES IT WILL BE YOUR PUNKASS JOB" and "IF IT WAS A GUARD WITH HIS CHEST HURTING YOU WOULDN'T BE WAITING TO CHECK HIM."   Even doing that, it was still ten or fifteen minutes that went by before a guard came back on the speaker and asked; "IS IT STILL HURTING!" Only after Eddie said "YES" did two guards come slowly walking up to Eddie's cell.

They took Eddie to the doctor and he came back within ten (10 ) minutes shaking His head saying they told him it was nothing to worry about and that they would not give him anything but aspirin for the intense pain.  He said it was still hurting extremely bad.  The next day, I was in the recreation room in front of our cells and asked Eddie how he was doing.  He said it hurt all the time.  I suggested he continue to insist they take him to a hospital to be checked out by someone that is a real doctor.  Eddie did start telling every shift guard his chest was still hurting.  Eddie said he kept asking them to take him to a hospital and they refused to do anything for him.

They did take him over to a QUACK DOCTOR (Porras), that won't ever do anything to help
anyone, and Eddie said Porras would not send Eddie to the hospital and would not spend the
time to even do any type thorough examination. Eddie said that he kept asking if they would do some test because the pain would not go away. They refused to do anything for him other than offer him aspirin.

Tonight Eddie was complaining about how badly his chest hurt each time a guard was near.  One of the guards  ( Wells) finally took the time to call someone to come get him.  They came and got him and two guards were back in a hour to clean out his cell saying he had died.  With the sick jokes some of these guards make, I waited until third shift to ask if Eddie had really died and had it confirmed about a hour ago.

Something needs to be done.  I hope you or your office will use this information to file
something pointing out the danger of these isolation cells.  Like the guard said: "How do you know he fell down?"  I can only see out an inch of space to one neighbor on side and we are locked in here at least 23 hours a day.   Terrell is always going on lockdown every month or so where we are locked up 24 hours a day with the guards only coming around every few hours, if that.  This deadly type situation will happen again and again unless something is done.  The doctor, if you can call him that, will never even allow guards to even take off the handcuffs when he checks you.

For example:  "Some rookie kid guard broke something in my hand the first month we were moved here and he would only say:  " It will heal itself !" I stayed handcuffed behind my back and Porrass refused to take the cuffs off to x-ray or closely examine my hand.  I filed grievances and letters with the internal affairs and nothing was ever done.  Now this  type
uncaring and unprofessional medical help allows Eddie to die in agonizing pain needlessly.

It would be to late by the time you received this letter to stop TDCJ from hiding the evidence of their malice and neglect.  You know TDCJ will cremate Eddie as fast as possible to avoid any autopsy that could show their neglect.  TDCJ cremates inmates quickly to hid their responsibility to where they are not held liable.  Mark my words, Eddie is headed for the crematorium as I type this.

If you want to work on this case, Please contact me and at least let me know the names of Eddie's Loved ones where I can help them sue TDCJ for damages.  I am writing Meredith Rountree also to see if it is to late to stop TDCJ from cremating Eddie.  This type neglect will continue to happen in these isolation, deprivation cells designed to punish, not house, inmates. I thought my punishment was my death sentence!

(This account of the events leading up to Eddie's death was written by a fellow Texas death row inmate whose name has been purposely withheld by the CCADP for his own protection)

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