re: Washington Man Cries For Help as He's Beaten to Death By Police

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Medical records show that bones in his face were broken and he choked on his own blood. The coroner concluded that compression of the thorax made it impossible for Thomas to breathe normally and deprived his brain of oxygen

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The first trial was on 6 July 2009, in which they were found guilty of "excesses" and of acting "imprudently" with a numerical advantage in the exercise of their duty, using truncheon blows against several parts of the victim's body, beating him to floor him and subsequently compressing his thorax as he was struggling to breathe, causing him to suffocate. They also failed to assist him when he called out for help. The Bologna court of appeal confirmed the sentence on 10 June 2011, while reducing it to six months in line with a general measure (indulto) that entailed a three-year tariff discount and was approved in 2006 to stem the problem of overcrowding in prisons nationwide.

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Abstract - We presented an unusual case of negligent homicide by thorax compression, which is the expanded concept of traumatic asphyxia. A 58-year-old man was restrained in the prone position by six prison officers. They were ordered by their superiors to continue restraining him for about 15 min and the victim died. At the forensic autopsy, typical findings of thorax compression with intramuscular hemorrhages on the back and multiple fractures of the ribs were observed. No evidence of neck compression/smothering or other fatal issues likely to occur by chest compression was found. The reconstruction of the scene corresponded exactly with the localization of the injuries found in the victim. This is the first case of death by pure thorax compression without other fatal factors during intentional restraint, in which the force causing the chest compression was distinctly determined by the autopsy and reconstruction.

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