The court ruled against the individual, denying his request to be released from pre-trial detention under § 3142(i) of the Bail Reform Act. The individual was accused of crimes related to sex and drug trafficking and was being held at a state facility despite being a federal prisoner; he had hypertension and low blood glucose, which he argued made him susceptible to infection by COVID-19. The court rejected his claim on the basis that his conditions were not serious enough to warrant release and that prison conditions and mitigation measures were sufficient to mitigate the risk. The court noted that only a single prison guard had tested positive and also noted measures including “aggressive sanitation programs,” “[suspension of] all programs that utilize ‘outside’ employees, “prohibit[ing] individuals other than prison and medical staff to proceed any further than the reception area,” “limit[ing] attorney visits with inmates to meetings through a glass partition in a lawyer visitation room unless written permission is granted by the warden or the deputy warden” and requiring "body temperature screening checks for all employees and lawyers as, they enter the facility."
United States v. Bhimani, No. 3:17-CR-00324, 2020 WL 3304141 (M.D. Pa. June 18, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/18/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Pennsylvania
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; maintaining a drug premises
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Yes
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.