2019

Dear Reader,

Hey! I hope you are doing well.

Today I'm going to break from sharing with you the story of growing up to share with you an event that took place in my life. I wish to tell you now because my health isn't what it used to be... I was poisoned by a guard for being honest about a situation that took place on the recreation yard in 2015. Where an inmate died. I'll tell you this story and let you decide what went on.

October 2015. I'm on the rec yard playing basketball. It's the 3rd game. My team won the first two. We're playing hard! I was in great shape/health.

3rd game's over. We all dap + congrats on another good game. I turn around to say good game to CJ. (Clarence Jones - RIP) And he locked eyes with me - froze - and fell stiff as a board, backwards. I heard the sound of his head smacking the concrete court. I ran over to him and realized exactly what it was. I looked over to the 3 officers sitting on their bench, they were all looking at me + CJ. I yelled, "He's having a seizure! Medical emergency! I'm declaring a medical emergency on his behalf!" They didn't move. I brought my attention back to CJ. I just do what I've seen nurses do in a county jail when someone had a seizure. I talked to him. "Just relax homie. And breath. Just focus on my voice bruh..."

I could hear other death row prisoners pleading with the guards to call a medical emergency as I and now another death row prisoner tried to help him.

I was staring directly into CJ's eyes saying something when his pupils expanded to the size of his irises, his last breath exhaled from his lungs and his head lolled to the side. He died.

He seized for about 3-4 minutes before dying. Still, no medical emergency was called by the guards...

I checked his pulse in his wrist and throat. Nothing. Another inmate double checked. Nothing.

I said we have to do CPR. I looked in his mouth + it was filled, partially, with blood. We rolled him onto his side + poured the blood out. It came out of his mouth an nose. Put him back on his back and the other inmate began chest presses.

I looked over at the guards and told them, "He's dead! Will you call a medical emergency now?!" Still nothing. Prisoners are shaking their heads + complaining that they're trying to make sure he's dead + can't come back before calling for help.

The prisoner doing chest presses wasn't pushing hard or fast enough. I told him he has to collapse the rib cage in order to pump CJ's heart. And to pump to the rhythm of the song, "Staying Alive". He did as I instructed.

I looked back at the officers and told them, "Y'all know this is all on camera right?" An officer pulled out his radio and looked up in the direction of the yard camera (I don't think the yard camera can see the officers' side of the fence) but didn't raise it to his mouth yet. It was just in his hand at his side. I continued to plead with him to call for help. I told him, "They're going to compare the time stamp on the camera to what time the call went out." He lifted it halfway and after a few more seconds of several of our pleads, he called. Less than one minute we were told to carry him to the gate. We did.

Now, I'm watching the nurse work the hand pump to give CJ air. And the officer who had the radio in his hand + refused to make the call - but finally did, is doing the chest presses... but from what I could tell, he was only collapsing his chest, at most, a half inch. But his shoulders + body was moving as if he was putting all his weight into it... to me, it looked like acting. Because now, he was on camera.

The white shirts (lieutenants and captains) told us to write down what we knew or saw. And if we knew or saw nothing just write that. They passed out forms for us to write out statements on. I wrote down what I told you. But in a more condensed format. And for the time, I wrote it took 2-4 minutes. I didn't want to be wrong and then get targeted by the guards. It was such in my head and I wasn't sure if it really took them as long as it did. After I calmed down I was sure it did. I was upset that they refused to call for help.

The net day 2 FDLE (Florida Dept of Law Enforcement) special agents came and interviewed a few of us. It was a woman + a man. The man was nice and tried to be reassuring + interested in what I had to say. The woman... she didn't say one word. She just sat there with her muscular arms crossed, with the word "Marine" emblazoned on her gray T-shirt, staring holes through my skull that made me feel like I'd offended her in some way. She was definitely a seasoned Marine. You don't develop an ice cold stare like that unless you've seen a whole lot of bad in this world. Anyway - I began telling what happened but her stare just ate through me so I asked her, "You really want me dead don't you?" No answer. I said, "I'm not on death row for anything sexual predatory any neither do I have ANYTHING like that in my past... so why do you hate me so much?" ...Silence. From there I had the feeling I should watch what I say + cut this interview short. There's already a rumor that the special agents who investigate deaths + abuse on this death row assist in sweeping things under the rug for them. And *I* didn't want to get swept under the rug...

The next day my wing had yard again. As my handcuffs were taken off, the guard (same one who refused to call for help (let's just call him Levi) told me, "Since you wrote in your statement that it took us several minutes to call for help, if something happens to you, we're going to take several minutes to help you." I told him, "I didn't write "several" minutes, I wrote 2-4 minutes." He said, "Na-uh. I read it. You wrote several minutes."

A few days later I got sick. Lightheaded, my heart was beating weird... this continued of and on for a couple weeks. On Nov 16th 2015 I got really lightheaded + almost passed out + my heart beat erratic for a few seconds I had a funny, uncomfortable feeling in my chest. I declared a medical emergency and 45 minutes later I was in medical. My EKG was normal but my blood pressure was 102/55. That's very low for me. I'd never had anything lower than 132/68. The nurse put me in to see the doctor. (The visit would be a week later). The next day I passed out. Same issues but worse. I declared a medical emergency again. Same thing, normal EKG and blood pressure was 101/56. The nurse said it sounds like my B/P was falling rapidly. And that I'm on the list to see the doctor already, so to make sure I don't miss that call out. The next night it happened again. Same time too. Always about an hour after dinner. But this time I had pressure in my chest + I was nauseous + had a pressure headache. I declared a medical emergency after I got off the ground. It took the new nurse for our wing an hour and 47 minutes to come see me. This is after the Sgt (Sergeant) called her again + again asking her what was taking her so long. When she finally came she said, "What's wrong?" I said, "I passed out and I have a lot of pressure") She cut me off there and said, "Your awake + coherent so your fine. And walked off. The Sgt and other office look at her like, "What the hell???" I was told that she told that Sgt I was faking...

My health got worse. I could no longer lay flat, I had edema in my lower legs, wrist hands and my face, pressure in my chest, neck, face + head. And some other stuff. I accidently fell asleep on my back with my legs kicked up to drain the edema. I awoke a couple hours later barely able to move. I started to roll onto my side and my heart acted up and my whole left arm went cold. My heart then boomed back into rhythm. I sat up + sat there a few seconds, stood up... next thing I know I awoke on the floor. My whole body was cold. I don't know how long I was there but the hallway door popped. I sat up and declared another medical emergency. The officer told me the nurse was on her way around with meds so she'll be here in a minute. A couple minutes later the nurse that neglected me before popped up. I told her what happened + showed her my edema. She said she'll see me for sick call. It was 4 something in the morning. She called me down around 8.30 that same morning. Once again my EKG was normal. I can't remember what my vitals were. She told me if I declared another medical emergency or went to sick call she would not allow me to get the echocardiogram the doctored already ordered. We debated on how wrong she was for that. It ended with her saying we should be thankful to die of natural causes and something about medical treatment on death row being a waste of time + money.

The doctor told me if something else happens to turn in a sick call so he knows what's going on with me...

During those last couple weeks Officer Levi (not his real name) came to me at my cell on 2 different occasions telling me he poisoned me because of what I wrote in my statement. I told him, "That shit ain't funny. Go on with that shit!" He maintain trying to convince me of this + left. It went that way both times. I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was just a psychological tactic to keep me from writing a statement again...

I go to court in early December 2015. Same year my EKG was borderline with an abnormal T-wave. And my blood pressure was very high. I was put on blood pressure medications. My problems started to subside some. I cam back to UCI a couple weeks later + they cancelled my meds?? I was told my medical jacket will be reviewed by the doctor + then sent to scheduling for my echo.

A month goes by and nothing has happened. I ask the nurse working that day (not the bad one) if she can find out what's going on with my echo. The next day I asked her about it + she said she couldn't find it anywhere. She looked everywhere but it was weird because that's never happened to her before. The following week I was called out to see the doctor. My medical jacket was still missing so I had to be put off for a week. The next week I was called out to see the "new" doctor and lo and behold my medical jacket has appeared. And guess who's back? The bad nurse. We'll call her Beth (not her real name). I sit down and Nurse "Beth" clears her throat as the "new" doctor opens my medical jacket and he looks at her. She nods to me and says, "That's him." The "new" doctor then closes my medical jacket and says, "We're done." I asked him questions but he wouldn't say 1 more word.

A few weeks go by and I get sick. I have the flu like a dozen or so others. I fill out a sick call. Everyone who has the flu is seen except me. During this time I inquired about my echo. A nurse, once again, couldn't find my medical jacket. I turned in my sick call on March 3rd 2016. I went to court again. Around March 17th or 18th, I still hadn't seen anyone for it. By the time I made it to court I couldn't talk. I'd lost my voice. The medical staff in the county jail checked me out. I had a pulmonary infection. It's had made its way up + out of my windpipe + was now turning my throat white. The doctor put me on amoxicillan, guapenesin, Tylenol and something else. I was on that for a few days. I came back to the prison... I went to my first yard, after being sick - almost to death - and played 7 games of volleyball and 10 games of basketball! Each time I came back from the county jail my health improved.

I was doing well for a month or so and then my heart began acting up again. In a different way. Like an extra beat sometimes. Sometimes lightheadedness.

I got to see another new doctor and we had a new nurse. I heard good things about them. Like they don't treat us like they want us to die + be out of their hair. I told this new doctor what had been going on with my medical jacket going missing. He checked + said a referral was approved twice so he doesn't know why I hadn't gotten one yet. He said he'll take care of it. 1 1/2 months later I got it! I was doing a whole lot better so I wasn't expecting it to pick up a lot. It showed I have mild regurgitation in my mitral, tricuspid, and polmonic heart valves. Fibrocalcific changes on my mitral and atrial valves. And a mildly enlarged atrial valve. My ventricular ejection fraction was normal at 60%. He then ordered me to wear a 24 hour Holtor monitor. A month later it was done. It showed I had 21 premature atrial contractions, 3 premature left ventricular contractions and my lowest heart rate was 47 beats per minute. No runs or couplets. Or no pauses 2 seconds or longer. He said he would do these test in the near future to see how they changed... observe me.

Note: I also dropped from 280+ pounds down to 220ish in those couple months.

I saw him a couple months later but then he was moved somewhere else. He said he wanted to record my heart while I exerted it. I had explained to him that when I do anything strenuous or while leaning forward or backwards, my heart's rhythm would mess up really bad. And would cause me problems for days - weeks.

Since then my heart has gone up + down. In terms of health. I was given another echo + Holtor test last year after more problems and it still has the original problems but now I also have mild atrial regurgitation and borderline concentric left ventricular hypertrophy.

My personal opinion, after studying information from Merck, is that I have heart failure. Or something is causing my heart to fail intermittently like this. But I'm a death row prisoner... It's always been hard for us to get medical treatment.

A few weeks ago I woke up to get supplies to clean my cell and when I got up my heart slowed waaaay down. Only 1 beat every 3-4 seconds. It lasted above a minute. I only got a little lightheaded. I declared a medical emergency to my Sgt. He called the nurse. She showed up... 10 minutes later. I explained what happened. 5 minutes later I was sitting on the medical bench. The Sgt + officer + I waited another 20-25 minutes + she came. I was hooked up to an EKG... surprise! It was normal. My blood pressure was low. 106/6... 64 I think. But I'm now being told there's nothing they can do... the nurse that's standing in for the doctor won't order any test or send me to see the cardiologist. Apparently my heart slowing down that slow and the extra bets or premature beats I have dozens of every day doesn't concern them... because I'm a death row prisoner it saves the state millions of dollars if I up + die from natural causes than see this process through to my execution.

While I've written this blog my heart has "messed up" about 40 times. Just single, sometimes double, beats that jump in + mess up the rhythm. I had to stop writing because of it. I just came back at the top of this page.

I've complained and grieved this issue to the previous wardens, Secretary of Dept of Corrections and the Asst Regional Director and the Inspector General's office. One of my previous legal aids called the Inspector General's office to check to see if they were investigating this and they were told they already did and the investigation was closed....?! NO ONE ever came to question me on this or interview me. This blog is the first time I've been given the chance to tell this story in its entirety. So an investigation (a legit one) was not done because no one has had all the details. No one has even asked. This whole situation was swept under the rug. I've pleaded with all of them, writing personal letters and grievances, telling them I'll take a polygraph (lie detector test) to proove what I'm saying is the truth. Still I've heard nothing. I thought their silence and reluctance meant they didn't believe me on this issue. But as time went by I began seeing this for what it is... I was vocal, made noise, about officers intentionally letting a death row prisoner die. Breaking protocol to assist in his death. Quite easily put, at the very least, "negligible manslaughter". But because their actions were intentianal, it could very well be murder. So after I "made noise" I get sick (sick meaning my heart's rhythm was messing up and I was lightheaded), a new nurse starts working on the death row who neglects me, hides my medical jacket to prevent me from getting medical care and starts telling officers not to pay attention to my medical complaints. She also told this to another nurse who didn't like me because I wrote a grievance on her husband at GSP, when I was there, for turning off the water on the whole yard while the other fellas and I were playing basketball. It resulted in me having a heatstroke. He was relieved of his position as the yard Sgt because he was already warned once for this before. He was moved to another prison (here at UCI) where I learned he was given a promotion and made a lieutenant... But anyways... that nurse then made it her mission to tell everyone I was a hypercondriac... Yup. The best way to see that someone on death row withers away is to put it in people's head that he or she ha a psychological problem. Now THAT will give someone a psychological problem. And believe me, this whole situation has put me through the ringer I tell you. But I still haven't lost all my marbles... yet!

So, next the officer (who was promoted to Sgt exactly 12 months later) tells me, convinces me I've been poisoned for "making noise". This gets the buzz going. The rumor that I was poisoned for "making noise" about corruption. Which I played right into. Now this whole situation is buzzing around UCI's P-Dorm. So now other prisoners see what happens to those who "make noise".

Was I really poisoned? I believe I was. Too many things have come together at that very moment to call it coincidence. It was too well orchastrated. But if I wasn't... then what I've gone through is tantamount to psychological torture.

And yes, there's more to this story. But I believe I've made my point. But to those who may doubt that this kind of corruption is possible - keep in mind that this is DEATH ROW. The foremost place in our country where crimes like this are so easily gotten away with. For example; early 2000's, or late 90's, the Franky Valdez murder. Death row prisoner beaten to death for "making noise" about officers beating the inmate in the cell next to his... 4 guards were 'arrested' for murder. But they won trial... their boot prints were all over his body but they still won. You know why? Because he was a death row prisoner. The condemed. The mind of society was different back then. Society today would be more probable to have convicted him. By the way, his very case was screamed at me, making comparison to what I'm going through... by high ranking staff here.

In conclusion, I wanted to get my story out just in case I up and die soon. I didn't want my murderers to get away scot-free with killing me. I want people to know the level of corruption going on here. In hopes that it'll generate enough attention to make something happen. Reform. Real reform. Let's be honest, as long as there are guards that are criminals themselves, people will not come to prison + be rehabilitated. They will become what the environment creates of them.

It's my understanding that all state employees, in order to become employed by the state, must sign an agreement. And in that agreement it says that if the state deems they should take a lie detector test if being investigated for a crime, then they cannot refuse. If this is true, then my situation is definetly a cause of that. What do you think?

Best case scenario - realistically, I get sent to see a cardiac specialist and I'm treated for whatever is wrong with me and I get my health back. That would be awesome!

Worse case scenario - realistically, this blog scares the staff (security and medical) and they finish me off now to stop me from "making noise". They don't beat us to death anymore. They poison us, they give us ailments that we'll eventually succumb to. So that way it looks natural.

Now, I'll go back to my blog, telling of the history of my life + from there, other topics of the world + system as we know it.

Until next time! I hope...

Yours truly,

Doug