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Answers overdue in jail death case

The autopsy of Larry Germonprez revealed 17 rib fractures and assorted cuts and bruises, but Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats still won't say why. Two years after Germonprez died inside the county jail, Coats has yet to issue an internal affairs report.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe decided 22 months ago that the death was an "excusable homicide in that the officers involved were acting within the legal performance of their duties in attempting to restrain and secure Larry Germonprez." But McCabe was only determining whether the actions warranted criminal charges. Coats, who was elected sheriff last fall, owes the public something else. He owes some answers about whether his officers were out of control.

Germonprez, 41 at the time, was brought into the jail on charges of drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and marijuana possession. All the public knows at this point is what McCabe has reported: Within a few days, it became clear Germonprez was suffering severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms. He stripped off his clothes and began babbling. Officers moved him to a cell in the medical wing, where he began kicking the walls. They tried to move him again, and a paramedic heard Germonprez say something like, "If you put me in there, I'll die." Officers encountered resistance and pinned him to his bed. A few minutes later a nurse discovered he was not breathing.

The family of Germonprez has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and the courts will be asked to assign blame. But Coats is in charge of jail operations, and he can't hide behind lawyers. Seven inmates have died in the Pinellas jail in less than three years, and Germonprez's face and body were so battered his family chose to cover him for the funeral. Coats is blaming investigative delays on other agencies that were asked to review the autopsy, but two years is inexcusable. Does the sheriff have something to hide?

[Last modified March 12, 2005, 00:49:09]