Family of Rasheen Rose Sues NYS Agency for Contempt of Court

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Nov. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Shaniece Luke, the sister of Rasheen Rose, a severely autistic man who died while under NY State care*, has filed a contempt of court lawsuit in Federal Court against the NYS Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and the agency's General Counsel Roger Bearden, for their failure to comply with an order from the Honorable Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy to supply Ms. Luke's attorneys with important investigative and quality assurance materials needed that are factual in nature.

As the court filing indicates: "OPWDD has clearly and consciously chosen to disregard the 10/9/14 order of the Court, and that choice has harmed the plaintiff in delaying the prosecution and potential resolution of this action, and has caused plaintiff's counsel to devote needless hours toward obtaining documents that were the subject of plaintiff's motion to compel that the Court has already resolved by order."

This is all part of a pattern of obstruction that OPWDD has engaged in right from the moment when Rasheen Rose died in a facility run by the agency and staffed by untrained personnel who subjected the mentally impaired Rose to an illegal prone restraint that caused his death. As Aaron DePass, attorney for the Rose family points out:

"We have been given the run around by OPWDD and its representatives, people who apparently believe that they have the right to flout the law with impunity. The real question here is: what is so damaging about the requested documents that state employees would spend so much energy trying to keep them from us?'

As court papers make clear: "All of this folly by OPWDD's counsel is being done because OPWDD is desperately attempting to conceal embarrassing and damaging documents with no legal authority to do so."

Ms. Luke has been struggling with her brother's death because she feels it was so unnecessary. As she says; "If Rasheen got the care he was supposed to receive, he'd still be alive today. Instead, he was constantly abused until the abuse finally led to his death. The whole family is distraught, and OPWDD's stonewalling is adding insult to injury."

The wrongful death claim filed by Ms. Luke against NY State has been languishing because of the foot-dragging of OPWDD and other state officials charged with resolving this matter. The OPWDD's behavior in regards to the document subpoena underscores the state's delaying tactics and its general mind over matter attitude: They don't mind, and the mentally impaired don't matter.

*A wrongful death lawsuit is still pending.

SOURCE Attorney Robert Santoriella, Esq.