The court denied a father’s and son’s separate motions for temporary pretrial release. The court determined that while the father had an underlying condition of asthma and the son suffered from acute bronchitis as well as a 10% service connection disability, these were outweighed by the findings of dangerousness and the sufficiency of the facility’s sanitary conditions. The individuals were found to be dangerous due to the allegations that they were high-ranking members of a multistate drug trafficking organization, had previously threatened violence to others (including government informants and potential witnesses), and had allegedly been involved in multiple homicides. The court further found that there was no compelling reason for release due to the facility’s precautionary policies, including monitoring of COVID symptoms, screening by medical personnel, suspension of non-essential visits, suspension of visitation, video conferencing for attorney/client meetings, clean teams that frequently disinfected high traffic areas, hand sanitizer stations, and isolation of symptomatic individuals.
United States v. Prieto, 3:19-CR-142, 2020 WL 3105414 (W.D. Ky. Jun. 11, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/11/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Kentucky
Type of Case
Group
Case Characteristics
Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Conspiracy with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine
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.