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« Kerstin Fritzl Reunited with her Family | Main | 100 Naked Students run in Oblation 2008 »
Friday
Jun202008

State Charges Dropped in Hope Steffey Case



According to a grand jury, Stark County deputies committed no criminal acts while arresting Hope Steffey two years ago. Nancy H. Rogers, Ohio attorney general, issued a statement saying that a Stark County grand jury did not hand down any indictments after reviewing the evidence presented by the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation Special Prosecution Sections.

The Steffey case was investigtated by Paul Scarsella, the Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section for the Attorney General’s Office where he manages 4 attorneys and support staff. He was assisted by Bridget Carty, Public Integrity Unit Coordinator, and an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Prosecutions Section.

The Special prosecutors, Paul Scarsella and Bridget Carty, said the incident, in which male and female deputies forcibly removed Steffey's clothes at the Stark County jail, was a suicide precaution. They said the deputies were only following a medical order given by a doctor on duty to remove her clothes. Though the jail has suicide suits for inmates to wear, prosecutor Scarscella said Steffey was not immediately given one because even the suit was deemed too dangerous for her to have.

The Special prosecutors presented the results of their investigation to the grand jury without interviewing Hope Steffey. They said they were unwilling to interview her with her lawyers present, as she requested. Steffey did however appear before the grand jury. The grand jury declined to indict the deputies involved.

Steffey denied that she was suicidal or was given the opportunity to remove her clothes herself. There is no policy that prevents men from removing a female inmate's clothes during a suicide precaution situation. Men are however prevented from strip-searching a female inmate.

However, the findings of this grand jury will have no bearing on the federal lawsuit that Hope Steffey filed on Oct. 2007, accusing Stark County deputies of violating her civil rights by assaulting, strip-searching and leaving her injured and naked for six hours in a Stark County jail cell. She had to use toilet paper to cover herself. Defendants in the case are Swanson, Deputy Sheriff Richard T. Gurlea Jr. and one to 15 other "John and Jane Does" employed at the Stark County Jail, and the Stark County commissioners. That case is scheduled to go to trial in December.

Below is the video (in 2 parts) which documents Hope’s experience at the hands of the Stark County Sheriff’s Dept. The video is graphic (you’ve been warned!!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daYBjfvEjfQ&eurl=http://shadmia.com/2008/02/14/innocent-woman-strip-searched/]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDuuo0k9xXw&eurl=http://shadmia.com/2008/02/14/innocent-woman-strip-searched/]

Whether or not the videotape was presented to the state grand jury will probably never be known, since the deliberations of grand juries are held in secret. But it is certain to be part of the civil case to be heard in federal court. Steffey's attorneys are now under federal court order to not discuss the case. But they have argued that the force used by deputies, and seen on the videotape, was brutal and unnecessary.


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Reader Comments (81)

http://goesdownbitter.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/stark-county-ohio/

Let's hope the federal civil rights lawsuit jury has more sense. It's rare for a local grand jury to go against law enforcement, but it's clear to the Bitter Hinterlands that the sheriff's deputies get off on abusing women and girls.

July 2, 2008 | Unregistered Commentergoesdownbitter

Pretty obvious that the states attorney general was less than enthused about vigorously persueing this case against these officers. I have seen this before and in a grandjury only one side speaks and that is the prosecutor! Also theres a reason the sheriff of stark co chose to have the attorney generals office investigate because it's that old buddy system. You have prosecutors that work with these cops and become friends so I am sure the evidence presented was very limited and one sided. This is exactly why prosecutors should not be allowed to investigate or prosecute cops because they work with them and have a freindship with them. It should be left up to a commission elected by the public to serve with full powers of arrest and prosecution of public officials. Theres been to much of this favortism towards cops breaking the law and prosecutors that work them and so they won't inforce the law.

July 5, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterTiger

Men can not be present in a strip search.

Men can not be present in a body cavity search.

Men are not even supposed to be where they can SEE women in showers.

But after 2 years and NO mention of anything, just as the grand jury thing is going on, Swanson then comes out in a grandstand play and says that men are not only allowed to VIEW a forced stripping of a woman during a "suicide prevention", they are actually allowed to PARTICIPATE!!!!! And with 8 people there, we had spectators too! (OMG!!! Why don't they just sell tickets!??!?!)

If the grand jury was told this same fairy tale and was instructed by the judge to allow for it, I can see why they might have found "no evidence".

And Swanson is stupid enough to think that this will resolve this!??!?!?!

That people will NOW think that its "all ok" because Sheriff Swanson says its ok??!?!?!

See this is where the logic & reasonableness of the deputies claim that they were just 'doing their job, under doctors orders' and trying to 'save Steffy's life' starts to come apart.

Then the 'killer blow' to their side of the story is what happens next...

THEY LEAVE HER NAKED!

Their excuse? She was TOO suicidal for a suicide suit. For a garment DESIGNED for this situation?? TOO suicidal for even a paper covering?!?!?

THIS is where this WHOLE story takes a turn!

THIS is where we find out what is REALLY happening.

This is where we finally realize that Steffy is being humiliated, embarrassed and punished under the "color of law"!!!

July 9, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

Wow, unbelieveable! All under the guise of "suicide prevention". Steffy just got the "Rodney King" treatment... there was video evidence, yet it wasn't enough. I'm surprised the video wasn't used to charge her for refusing to comply (not being sarcastic here).

I'll be sure never to step foot in Stark County, since I have no faith in their judicial system. I truly believe that LAPD is now one of the better run police departments, large or small. Bratton has done a fine job and the department has civilian oversight. Hopefully, Stark County will get better. It took Los Angeles many negative police incidents and several new Chiefs, but I believe the worst is behind us. Recently, the police here seem much more unbiased. I actually have faith LAPD will do the right thing when push comes to shove. The latest news I heard is that certain officers are being disciplined for their excessive force during last year's May Day incident. It took decades, but no department is under more scrutiny than LAPD... and they're better for it.

Good luck you poor Stark County residents, I don't envy you. If and when I have to call 911, I'll have faith in my police dept.

July 9, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterBo

Bo QUOTE"I’m surprised the video wasn’t used to charge her for refusing to comply (not being sarcastic here)."

Ok heres the story on that. The grand jury was never shown all the video. The sheriff is claiming that the camera wasn't working.

Even though the BUILDING video CLEARLY shows the camera taping as Steffy is lead down the hall with what seems to be the whole night shift, EIGHT people, (heres links...count them.)
See the camera on?
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/Zemo999/Steff1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/Zemo999/Steff2.jpg

So the sheriff wants everyone to believe that the camera in the video isn't working?
BUT the camera STARTED working again, JUST as they have Steffy forced down on the bunk and start stripping her.

I'm left wondering how stupid Sheriff Swanson thinks we are, and wondering how stupid HE is, thinking that any rational person would buy this fairy tale of his.
I wonder how long its been since hes had a mental evaluation???

PS Also the Sheriff's dept kept information from the grand jury investigators, besides this.

July 12, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

Here i am serving in afghanistan and the very few newscasts i see is this torture.I am outraged beyond words that it
happened and they are free to do it again.I am convinced they knew what they were going to do to her before they took her into the building.Research shows when arriving to the station the deputy went inside and left her in the car.That was when they set her up.what did they not want her to hear?The camcorder and number of participants says
they enjoyed it.Stripping a person for humiliation is against international law as torture.The sherriff is a disgrace to america!

July 12, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterjeff mcdaniel

I just watched the video again, this time all the way to the end, and now I'm sick to my stomach. I won't be able to sleep tonight. Hope Steffy's screams are bounching around in my brain. I can hear her pain, she had no idea why they were doing this to her. Just from the tone of her voice, I can tell there was no explanation of why they were doing this. There was no explanation that this was part of their "suicide prevention policy". She wasn't screaming "this isn't right!", her words "what are you doing?!" speaks volumes to me. And to think that this has happened to others at the hands of the same perps. Sickening!

July 14, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterBo

Such a one sided report by a so-called news organization. Looks like a small-time 60 Minutes. I watched the whole video but I didn't see anything about a strip search or cavity search. This was none of these. It was clothing removal like they do with male prisoners for various reasons.

July 27, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterBill

This is a real shame, what kind of a world do we live in where we men allow women to be treated in this way. I hate to sound sexist but we men need to stand up and stop this kind of behavior and protect the women of the world, even those who do not want it.

August 8, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn J.

Hello Sherrif,

I am not going to start this mail with pleasantries because I believe that will be a waste of my time. I recently came to know about the case of Hope Steffey. I was aghast to know how your deputies behaved with that woman. What surprises me even more is that you are shielding them instead of punishing them. You are claiming that "they followed the book". Could you be kind enough to tell me which book says that male deputies can strip search a woman? What your deputies did was much worse than just strip search. They violated her modesty and used excessive force against her. You also denied that your deputies stripped Ms Steffey. Would you also say that the gruesome video of Ms Steffey circling around the internet is a fraud?

The behavior of your department has been extremely corrupt and repulsive. I can't stop wondering while watching the video -"Is this America or Iraq?". You and your department have brought shame not only to Stark county or Ohio but to the entire country. If you have any decency left, you should resign from your post after firing all the deputies involved and filing criminal cases against them, instead of posing with false pride on the website of the county sheriff website.

-A concerned citizen.

August 11, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterCitizen

How on earth can they deem a suicide suit too dangerous for a suicidal person to wear? I'm sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all.

August 12, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterCharlotte

THE SYSTEM IS A FAILURE! Our rights don't mean crap in todays world. I pray each cop gets fired and thrown in prison! I think that everyone who sees this video clip should write the sheriff's office and tell them how much you respected them.HA HA Thanks for serving and protecting the little people you walk on.We PAY THEM TO WORK FOR US????? why?????
To the cops that will be reading this, if you did this to my wife. I Would send you to the MA$TER JUDGE. There is somethings you just don't do. Another mans wife is off fucking limits, YOU DON'T TOUCH! Now if it was just women, that would be different.

August 13, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJimakinz

I feel very sorry for Hope Steffy. I can't imagine being a victim treated like a criminal. If a doctor had given an order to have her clothes removed, I don't understand why a dcotor and nurse didn't do the removal of clothing. And if the excuse is that Hope was to frantic, they coculd have just given her an injection of some kind of tranquilizer. There was absolutely no need to violently remove her clothes.

Has the federal suit even got underway? I hope they find the county at fault with a huge punitive fine, and the officers involved sent to jail with huge fines of their own.

August 29, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterSam

Why has no one brought this to the attention of the United Nations as a blatant abuse of human rights??

August 31, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMuso

These Cops Are Sexual Preditors.

September 7, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterrcroftensen

It is up to the people in that town to have that man removed from his position. Where is the citizenry of that community? There was a time in our history when he would have been greeted by a lynch mob. This is outrageous!!! How would this public "servant" feel if this had been done to HIS wife or daughter. The only thing missing from the video was the red armbands and the swastika. Frightening.

September 9, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterLT

I thought that I had read somewhere that a pattern of strip searching women had been discovered in Stark county? If true, I hope that her attorney(s) will present that evidence as part of the case. If you are a female victim of an unwarranted (and violent) strip search conducted in Stark county, you need to seek out Hope's attorney or bring your own charges.

In response to Muso (#14):
You really need to learn more about the UN... I'm not sure it's appropriate to use the words "human rights" and "United Nations" in the same sentence...

September 27, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterDavid

The video doesn't lie. Period.

If the federal case does not succeed in bringing convictions, then something is clearly wrong with our system.

This reminds me of the case of Alexandra Svoboda at a protest march in North Providence, RI, in which her leg was broken by the actions of a police officer. The police refused to provide aid and instead held her down and cuffed her. The pictures are graphic:
http://anarchismtoday.org/News/article/sid=87.html

I remember a similar incident somewhere in Florida a couple of years ago, where a peaceful protester was injured with a policeman's rubber bullet--for having done nothing but march in a protest.

It does indeed seem to me that if humans can't properly manage their own aggressive tendencies in the enforcement of the law, then a different system of law enforcement is needed.

October 2, 2008 | Unregistered Commentercbmtrx

I wonder if Hope Steffey had been Black if the national media would have picked up the story. It is sad that the local networks could not get this story on a national level. I am suprised Obama being from a close state, that he has not picked up her cause. I guess it just goes to show us that Color DOES matter and she was the wrong one!

October 20, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterDavid of VA

Sept 28th

The CantonRep has released the whole video, what they claim to have of it anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDRsCkc-9k0

Heres the CantonRep article "What Happened to Hope Steffey" (they even spell her name wrong, its Steffy)

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=433316

Read all the comments at the end of the article, you can tell its all slanted against Steffy. But the commenter's catch it.

October 24, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

This will NEVER see the inside of a court room.

I just don't think the authorities can afford that.

I also think thats why they went to the trouble to "enhance" that 'video' tape of Steffy saying she was suicidal. The "now or ever" answer wasn't looking too good for the authorities. So I think they took a few seconds out of this video, out of context. And I think they KNEW she was being sarcastic with them, but they needed something to keep a settlement down.

Because the "now or ever" answer was brought up at Steffy's trial, and it was NEVER denied then, and no mention was made of this tape.

After the elections they will be throwing some numbers at them.

It will be settled just like the three teens settlement, quietly, quickly, and forgotten.

Then we can wait for the next case to come up and taxpayers will take another hit.

October 25, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

Do a little homework, people. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Ya2IlT3nU

October 27, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterwrlord

I think that she WAS strip searched and even worse, at the end, before the two cops leave the cell. You noticed the two policemen , one with the gloves? It was fogged on the video, but it is just the two of them and Hope in the middle, completely naked, you can see the one on the right is doing cavity search, and the female officer calling them from outside the cell, imo. It is plain and simple, no doubt a sexual assault, and it is not far from rape regarding the cavity search. And then, they just laughed.

November 19, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterIrene

Wrlord I have done a LOT of homework on this. BTW I did find that the sheriff & courts didn't even know who they arrested & prosecuted. They are the ones that had her name wrong! Her name IS spelled Steffey, the sheriff & courts had it spelled wrong and had her birth date wrong too.

And I have already seen that Utube video. It was put up by someone that works at the sheriff's dept. Its BS.

This whole thing has been one big cover up. The grand jury "investigation" was a joke, I have talked to both investigators, and the guy in charge. The sheriff's dept withheld information from the grand jury investigators.

The sheriff has "manufactured evidence" that is laughable.

The BS just goes on & on.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDRsCkc-9k0

December 2, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

First off all I dont live in US.

What you Yanks should realise is that you live in police state. Police have all the rights you have none... at least if you have no money... So much for the land of the free eh?

December 8, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMike

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