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Pats’ Brady to join distinguished group

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Feds back in Susquehanna County ‘Gasland’ town to test water, air

<p>Luzerne County prison inmate Joan Rosengrant&#8217;s July 7 death was caused by the combined effect of prescription drugs complicated by her physical condition, Coroner William Lisman announced Thursday.</p><p>Rosengrant is among three female inmate deaths since June 8 &#8212; an unusual occurrence that has prompted calls for more details and preventive measures from both family members and county officials.</p><p>The autopsy finding for Rosengrant raises questions about whether the drugs were prescribed by a doctor at the prison or by an outside doctor before her incarceration and what prison protocols must be followed to monitor the well-being of inmates taking prescription medications.</p><p>She was incarcerated at the county prison April 12, court records show.</p><p>Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Several county administrators said they will examine the specifics of drug prescribing and monitoring now that the autopsy is completed. But it&#8217;s unclear when their review will be finished and what findings will be made public.</p><p>Citing medical confidentiality, Lisman declined to identify the type of prescription drugs found in Rosengrant&#8217;s system or her medical condition. He confirmed traces of several drugs were found and said they are not drugs typically associated with overdoses.</p><p>Rosengrant&#8217;s death was ruled accidental, not criminal. Suicide can&#8217;t be ruled out as a possibility, but the coroner&#8217;s office had no evidence the inmate stockpiled any prescribed drugs in an attempt to accrue a fatal dose.</p><p>Prison officials have said the facility&#8217;s medical personnel administer prescription medications and closely monitor inmates to ensure they fully ingest prescribed drugs.</p><p>A 47-year-old Wilkes-Barre resident, Rosengrant had been incarcerated for lack of $500,000 bail. She was accused of supplying heroin and fentanyl in a fatal overdose earlier this year.</p><p>She and co-defendant Eric Scott Malia, 32, also of Wilkes-Barre, were the first in the county to be charged with drug delivery resulting in death. State law was changed several years ago, eliminating a requirement to prove alleged dealers had malicious intent in order to charge them in a death.</p><p>Attempts to reach a family member of Rosengrant were unsuccessful Thursday.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Humanly possibly&#8217;</strong></p><p>Lisman also announced Thursday that another one of the three inmates &#8212; Tricia Cooper &#8212; died from asphyxiation due to a July 25 hanging.</p><p>It&#8217;s the same cause and manner of death the office established for the third inmate, Brooke Griesing, who died June 8.</p><p>Cooper&#8217;s family members have publicly questioned the county prison&#8217;s failure to provide timely notification of her attempted suicide and details about what happened, including the item she accessed to hang herself.</p><p>Family members of Griesing have retained Kingston attorney Eugene Sperazza to represent their interests and conduct an &#8220;initial investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding her untimely death,&#8221; his office said Thursday.</p><p>Griesing, 23, Hazleton, was at the prison after being unable to post bail following her June 6 arrest for theft, receiving stolen property, drug possession and a summary traffic offense, court records show.</p><p>A 45-year-old Kingston Township resident, Cooper was in prison on a bench warrant and had a history of criminal charges, including retail theft. She was awaiting a preliminary hearing for a July 9 DUI charge in Hanover Township, records show.</p><p>Prison officials were optimistic officers had caught Cooper&#8217;s suicide attempt in time to save her life, but she died at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on Monday.</p><p>Council members are scheduled to discuss the inmate deaths at their meeting Tuesday.</p><p>Councilwoman Kathy Dobash has proposed council use its <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/669999/county-council-member-pushing-for-prison-probe-over-inmate-deaths" target="_blank">investigative power</a> under the county&#8217;s home rule charter to get to the bottom of the three deaths and a rash of suicide attempts.</p><p>In addition to the deaths, there have been eight attempted suicides this year to date, prison statistics show. Seven inmates attempted suicide in 2016, compared to three inmate suicide tries in 2015.</p><p>Councilman Eugene Kelleher sent an email to his council colleagues Wednesday proposing a different approach requiring the correctional services head and other appropriate administrators to prepare a report about recent prison events.</p><p>&#8220;My conjecture is that some of the questions that might be asked could not be answered in public,&#8221; he wrote, referring to medical information confidentiality and other legal restrictions.</p><p>Kelleher wants council to become better educated on prison procedures and policies and show a willingness to support appropriate recommendations to eliminate some current problems.</p><p>&#8220;I think the meeting will result in us seeing that Director Rockovich and his staff are doing all that is humanly possible within staffing, budgetary and legal restrictions and are probably distraught more than those who do not work in the prison,&#8221; Kelleher wrote.</p><p>Rockovich has said he asked mental health advocates to recommend inmate screening and monitoring protocol changes to better detect suicides. He said he has no problem with any constructive investigations or reviews.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lisman </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TTL041317crimewatch1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lisman </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Rosengrant.cmyk_-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rosengrant </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Rosengrant.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rosengrant </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Coroner issues determination on two inmate deaths at county prison