RECENTLY WE REPORTED ON THE DEATH OF AN INCARCERATED
MAN AT THE DADE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION IN SOUTH FLORIDA.
HIS NAME IS DARREN RAINEY AND HE DIED IN A SHOWER AT THIS
CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION.
WELL THERE WERE A NUMBER OF INMATES THERE WHO TESTIFIED
THAT HE WAS BURNED PURPOSELY BY PERSONNEL AT THE INSTITUTION
AS A PUNISHMENT FOR SPREADING FECES ON HIMSELF AND IN HIS
CELL AND IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THE CASE WAS A LITTLE SHADY BECAUSE
PROSECUTORS DECIDED NOT TO PURSUE ANY CHARGES AGAINST THE
PRISON GUARDS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN PUTTING HIM IN THE SHOWER.
WELL, THE HUFFINGTON POST ACTUALLY DID THIS
INCREDIBLE INVESTIGATION.
I WANT TO GIVE THEM A LOT OF CREDIT BECAUSE WHAT THEY DID IS
THEY COMPARED EVIDENCE THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO VIEW THEMSELVES
TO THE PROSECUTOR'S REPORT ON THE DEATH OF DARREN RAINEY
AND SO WEíRE GOING TO GO THROUGH A POINT BY POINT AND GIVE
YOU WHAT THE EVIDENCE INDICATES AND WHAT THE PROSECUTOR'S REPORT
SAID WHICH OF COURSE WE WILL SEE A LOT OF INCONSISTENCIES.
OKAY, SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE CONTEXT, DARREN
RAINEY'S DEATH WAS SO GRUESOME THAT HE HAD SKIN
COMING OFF OF HIS BODY.
THE PROSECUTORS WERE ARGUING THAT THE SLIPPAGE WAS
CAUSED BECAUSE HIS BODY WAS DECOMPOSING AND BECAUSE
THEY WERE MOVING HIS BODY FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, BUT
THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN A COUPLE HOURS AFTER SOMEONE DIES.
AFTER SOMEONE DIES ITíS NOT LIKE THEIR SKIN STARTS SLIPPING
OFF OF THEIR BODY IMMEDIATELY OR A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER.
IT SEEMS SHADY BUT WE WILL GET THE DETAILS OF THAT LATER.
I JUST WANT TO SAY A COUPLE OF QUICK THINGS HERE.
MORE CONTEXT, DARREN RAINEY HAD OBVIOUSLY SOME MENTAL
ISSUES THERE.
SCHIZOPHRENIA.
THAT'S WHAT HE WAS DOING THE THING WITH THE FECES.
HE NEEDED HELP, HE NEEDED SOMEONE FROM THE MEDICAL
PROFESSION TO TAKE CARE OF HIM.
INSTEAD THEY THOUGHT YEAH,
YOU'RE TRYING TO SHOW US.
HEíS NOT TRYING TO SHOW YOU ANYTHING, HE'S SCHIZOPHRENIC.
WEíRE GOING TO PUNISH YOU AND APPARENTLY THIS IS
SOMETHING THEY DID ON A REGULAR BASIS AND HE WAS SCREAMING
IN THE SHOWER THE WHOLE TIME.
I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.
OTHER INMATES SAID HE LOOKED LIKE A BOILED LOBSTER BUT FLORIDA
AUTHORITIES LOOKED AT HIM AND SAY I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUíRE TALKING
ABOUT, THESE GUARDS WERE PROBABLY JUST TRYING TO CLEAN HIM UP.
OH DID HE DIE?
IS HIS SKIN WAS BOILED OFF?
IT WAS NORMAL SLIPPAGE AND AS THEY WERE MOVING HIM IT
SLIPPED OFF.
YEAH, LIKE YOUR SKIN SLIPS
OFF YOU UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
NOW WE HAVE
MORE DETAILS.
A TROVE OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS LOOKED AT BY THE HUFFINGTON
POST INDICATES THAT SOME INFORMATION FROM THE
POLICE, THE PRISON AND EMERGENCY SERVICES IS NOT INCLUDED IN
THE PROSECUTORS FINAL REPORT WHICH RAISES QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND RAINEY'S DEATH.
NUMEROUS OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS - I'M SORRY - PHOTOS TAKEN OF
RAINEY'S BODY SEVERAL HOURS AFTER HE DIED WERE ALSO
REVIEWED BY THE HUFFINGTON POST.
THE IMAGES REVEAL EXTREME DAMAGE TO THE SKIN, WITH WOUNDS
OVER HIS ENTIRE BODY AND SIGNIFICANT SECTIONS OF
SKIN MISSING, EXPOSING RED AND WHITE TISSUE AND IN SOME
AREAS, WHAT APPEARED TO BE BLOOD VESSELS.
NOW LET'S START OFF WITH THE SHOWER.
THERE SEEM TO BE SOME INCONSISTENCY REGARDING THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE SHOWER.
THE INMATES WHO TESTIFIED SAID THAT THE PRISON GUARDS WOULD USE
THE SHOWER AS A FORM OF PUNISHMENT AND THEY WOULD PUT
INMATES IN THERE TO BURN THEM, TO PUNISH THEM.
THE SHOWER
APPARENTLY DIDN'T HAVE WORKING WATER CONTROLS IN THE ROOM, AND
THE WATER DIDN'T SPRAY FROM A SHOWERHEAD.
IT HAD BEEN
RIGGED TO USE WATER TAPS IN AN ADJACENT JANITORIAL CLOSET.
CAPTAIN DARLENE DIXON, THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND
SAFETY OFFICER WHO LOOKED INTO THIS AND INVESTIGATED IT
TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT HER FIRST ATTEMPT TO TEST THE
WATER IN THE SHOWER ROOM OR TOLD THEM ABOUT IT.
AFTER THE PRISON OFFICER WHO ACCOMPANIED HER TURNED ON
THE HOT WATER FROM INSIDE THE JANITORIAL CLOSET, THE
WATER HIT THE WALL OF THE SHOWER AND SPLASHED ON HER HAND
AND WAS HURTING HER BECAUSE IT WAS TOO HOT.
THAT WAS INFORMATION THAT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PROSECUTORS
REPORTS.
THE PROSECUTOR'S REPORT HIGHLIGHTS THE COUNTY
MEDICAL EXAMINER'S CONCLUSION THAT RAINEY WASN'T BURNED.
SHE HAD TO WITHDRAW HER HAND IMMEDIATELY AND REMEMBER
SHE IS ONE OF THE OFFICERS HERE.
THEY LEFT HIM IN THERE FOR HOURS.
THERE'S MORE.
LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER LOPEZ, FIREFIGHTER AND PARAMEDIC
WITH THE MIAMI-DADE FIRE RESCUE REPORTED THAT HE EXAMINED
RAINEY'S BODY ABOUT 50
MINUTES AFTER HE WAS FOUND DEAD ON THE SHOWER AND HE HAD
SECOND AND 3RD∞ BURNS ON APPROXIMATELY 30% OF HIS BODY.
THE PROSECUTORS REPORTS THAT A NURSE FAILED TO TAKE
RAINEY'S BODY TEMPERATURE - IN HER ORIGINAL REPORT, SHE NOTED
THAT SHE HAD AND IT REGISTERED NEARLY 105∞.
BOTH OF THOSE THINGS ARE RELEVANT BECAUSE REMEMBER,
THE PROSECUTOR SAID NO BURNS, WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT?
BUT YOU HAD A FIRE FIGHTER, LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER LOPEZ
SAY NO, THERE WERE BURNS ON 30%
OF HIS BODY THAT DIDN'T INCLUDE IN THE PROSECUTORS REPORT.
BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT PROSECUTORS, THEYíRE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FOR
THE COPS.
THEYíRE TOTALLY DERELICT IN THEIR DUTY.
THEIR DUTY IS SUPPOSED TO BE TO THE CITIZENS OF THEIR STATE
BUT INSTEAD THEY SERVE THE LOCAL POLICE WHO ARE THEIR
FRIENDS AND THEIR COLLEAGUES.
THEY WORK ON MANY CASES TOGETHER.
ITíS INSANE THAT WE HAVE LOCAL PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATE
LOCAL COPS.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS NEED TO
INVESTIGATE COPS WHO DON'T KNOW THEM AND DON'T WORK WITH
THEM EVERY DAY OTHERWISE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE CASES LIKE THIS
WHEN THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY IN THE TANK FOR THE LOCAL GUARDS AND
SAYING THINGS LIKE THE SECOND OR 3RD∞ BURNS, I LEFT THAT
OUT OF MY PROSECUTORIAL REPORT.
MAYBE YOUR SKIN COULD JUST
SLIP OFF YOU.
ITíS OBVIOUS THAT THEY BOILED THE GUY ALIVE.
LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER LOPEZ IS NOT THE ONLY PROFESSIONAL
INVOLVED IN THIS INVESTIGATION WHO NOTED THAT HE SUFFERED
FROM BURNS.
BRITNEY WILSON, WHO WORKED AT THE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
AS A LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE WRITES IN HER REPORT, WHICH
INDICATES SHE EXAMINED RAINEY'S BODY 10 MINUTES AFTER IT
WAS DISCOVERED, THAT HE WAS FOUND WITH FIRST-DEGREE BURNS TO
90% OF HIS BODY AND THAT HIS SKIN WAS HOT/WARM TO THE TOUCH.
ALSO BASED ON PHOTOS THAT THE HUFFINGTON POST REVIEWED
AND MATT FERNER IS THE REPORTER WHO DID THE STORY,
ENTIRE SWATHS OF SKIN AND IN PLACES WHAT APPEAR TO BE
MULTIPLE LAYERS ARE EITHER MISSING, BUNCHED UP AT THE
EDGES OF WOUNDS OR HANGING LOOSELY AT THE EDGES OF WOUNDS.
WHAT I'M ABOUT TO READ A SUPER GRAPHIC, SO I WANT TO GIVE
YOU A WARNING.
ACCORDING TO THE HUFFINGTON POST, RAINEY'S CHEST AND
BACK APPEAR TO BE MOST SEVERELY DAMAGED THAT HIS CHEST
WOUND EXPOSES A DARK RED LAYER OF TISSUE FROM HIS NECK TO
MID ABDOMEN.
WHITE TISSUE IS EXPOSED ON HIS ENTIRE UPPER AND MID BACK WITH
SOME RED SPLOTCHES THROUGHOUT THE LARGE EXPOSED AREA.
RAINEY HAD A TATTOO ON HIS UPPER LEFT ARM UNDER HIS
SHOULDER, WHICH IS NEARLY INDECIPHERABLE BECAUSE IT
APPEARS THAT SEVERAL LAYERS OF SKIN ARE MISSING.
LOOK, WHAT THEY DID TO HIM IS HORRIFIC.
HE IS DEAD, THAT IS A SEVERE CRIME THAT SHOULD BE
INVESTIGATED BUT TO ME, THE BIGGER INJUSTICE IS THE
PROSECUTORS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT YOU TURNING
AROUND AND GOING, I DON'T SEE ANY CRIMINAL ACTION HERE.
NOT ONLY DO I NOT SEE MURDER, WHICH THIS IS A VERY ARGUABLY MURDER
WHEN YOU BURN SOMEONE ALIVE AND MELT THEIR SKIN OFF OF
THEM, I DON'T SEE ANY CRIME.
AND THEN YOU TAKE EVIDENCE THAT IS CLEARLY IN THE RECORD OF
THAT CRIME AND YOU DON'T PUT IN YOUR REPORT.
THERE IS ONE VERY CLEAR CRIMINAL IN THIS CASE AND IT
IS MIAMI-DADE'S STATE ATTORNEY KATHERINE FERNANDEZ RUNDLE.
THAT IS WHO THE CRIMINAL IS.
THE PERSON WHO HAS THE AUDACITY TO VIEW THIS EXACT SAME
EVIDENCE, SEE THESE IMAGES OF SOMEONE'S BODY BURNS BECAUSE
OF THE SHOWER AND BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THESE GUARDS USE THE
SHOWER TO PUNISH A SCHIZOPHRENIC MAN, SHE COLLECTED THE SAME
EVIDENCE AND BACKED AWAY AND SAID NO, THERE'S NO WRONGDOING HERE.
THE PROBLEM HERE IS NOT ONLY IS THERE A GROSS INJUSTICE IN
REGARD TO THIS MAN'S LIFE, IT IS GOING TO BE A GROSS
INJUSTICE FOR ALL THE OTHER INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS IN
THIS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THESE
GUARDS WHO NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH ANY CHARGES FOR THEIR
WRONGDOING, FOR MURDER IN THIS CASE.
IT'S INSANE.
THEY DONíT VALUE LIVES AND BY THE WAY, I'M
SURE SOME OF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT WAS HE DOING IN
PRISON IN THE FIRST PLACE?
MAYBE HE WAS A DANGEROUS VIOLENT CRIMINAL.
HE WAS THERE FOR A DRUG CONVICTION.
AND HE'S DEAD NOW.
THIS IS HOW POWER CRUSHES THE POWERLESS, AND PART OF THE POINT
OF THIS WHOLE SHOW, WEíRE TRYING TO FIGHT BACK FOR YOU GUYS
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE CRITICIZE US FOR THAT AND SAY YEAH, LOOK
AT THESE GUYS WHO ARE TRYING TO OPPORTUNISTICALLY SERVE THE
AUDIENCE.
YEAH, THERE'S PLENTY OF PEOPLE SERVING POWER AND I
GUARANTEE YOU, GOOD WORK BY THE MIAMI HERALD, WONDERFUL
JOB OF JOURNALISM THERE.
IíM NOT BLAMING EVERYONE THERE,
NOT BY A LONGSHOT.
GREAT JOB BY HUFFINGTON POST AS WELL.
DO YOU SEE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN FLORIDA RAGING ABOUT THIS?
DO YOU SEE THE GOVERNOR, THE REPUBLICANS IN CHARGE
SAYING ANYTHING?
I'M HERE TO PROTECT OUR CITIZENS.
I DON'T SEE IT.
INSTEAD WHAT DO THEY TO?
POWER PROTECTS POWER AND IF YOU'RE GOING TO GET CRUSHED
IN THE MEANWHILE, YOU ARE JUST AN AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZEN.
THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU.