Otieno’s family requests federal investigation after former hospital worker acquitted of involuntary manslaughter

DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The family of Irvo Oteino -- a man who died on March 6, 2023, at Central State Hospital while in the custody of Henrico County sheriff’s deputies -- is requesting action from the U.S. Department of Justice, following the acquittal of a man accused of involuntary manslaughter in his death. In a letter sent to various officials in the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, the family's lawyers, Mark Krudys and Ben Crump, again requested the launch of a federal investigation into Otieno's death. "As we have stated previously, the resources of the U.S. Department of Justice are necessary to ably and properly prosecute the defendants," Krudys wrote in the letter. "As noted in our previous letters, it has always been our opinion that the Dinwiddie County CA's Office was too small and too inexperienced in this type of litigation to adequately prosecute any of the defendants, all of whom have separate, experienced counsel." In June 2023, the family's attorneys sent a similar letter to the same officials after former Dinwiddie County Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Baskervill resigned and Jonathan Bourlier had been appointed as interim commonwealth's attorney -- despite not having any experience in prosecuting cases. This new letter comes a week after the trial of Wavie Jones, a former orderly at Central State Hospital, who was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Otieno's death. The jury took less than 30 minutes to unanimously decide to acquit him. Video of Otieno’s death, shows him, in the midst of a mental health crisis, being held to the ground by sheriff’s deputies and hospital workers for more than 11 minutes. The medical examiner identified Otieno's cause of death as “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints.” While 10 people -- seven Henrico sheriff’s deputies and three hospital orderlies -- were initially indicted on second-degree murder charges, charges were dropped for all but three of them. Jones was the first to face trial in Otieno’s death. Dinwiddie County prosecutors had argued that Jones's actions were negligent while the defense had argued that Otieno had died of a "sudden cardiac arrest." The letter from Otieno's family leveled a number of complaints against how the case was handled in court, including: Issues with jury selection -- claiming that, while Dinwiddie County's population is 30% Black, the jury comprised "approximately half of that percentage" after the defense struck "two-thirds of potential Black jurors." Issues with witnesses -- including one witness on the first day of the trial "with whom [prosecutors] appeared not to have spoken," according to the letter. Failure to personalize Otieno -- the letter claims Otieno's psychiatrist was prepared to address his treatment history but was never interviewed by the prosecution. Failure to prepare witnesses -- in one example in the letter, Krudys claims that he had "regularly invited" Mann to sit down with Otieno's mother to prepare her testimony but they only met shortly before the trial and spoke "generally" about it. According to the letter, Oteino's mother was only told minutes before the trial that she would be the first witness and would only be asked to identify a picture of her son. In the end, she testified on the second day instead of the first. Issues with preparation -- the letter claims that, on the first day of the trial, a complaint that had allegedly been made against Jones was raised but, while the defense seemed well-prepared for the complaint, "the prosecution appeared to have not read the case cited by the defense." Lack of expert testimony -- while the defense had hired a forensic pathologist, a pulmonologist and a cardiologist as expert witnesses, the letter criticizes the prosecution for failing to hire their own experts in each field. The absence of an expert witness for police techniques/person-in-custody was also criticized by the letter. In addition to these complaints, Otieno's family was also reportedly disturbed by video presented to the jury that showed Otieno naked in his cell. "The Commonwealth never objected. A black box could have been placed over Mr. Otieno's private areas, but he was instead presented in a dehumanizing light," the letter reads. "Ms. Ouko wept at how her son was portrayed." The letter also criticizes the use of the term "dummy" when referring to the anatomical model used to represent Otieno during the trial. Kurdys claims "Irvo's model" would have been more appropriate. "This matter calls out to be immediately investigated by your offices and, if you feel that it is appropriate, to be prosecuted under the federal civil rights laws," the letter reads. "At this point, no other governmental body will ably and zealously pursue the matter." Ltr-to-DOJ-and-FBI-Req-for-Investigation-and-Prosecution-10.11.2024Download 8News has reached out to the Dinwiddie County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for comment and wi