GUARDS CHECKED ROOMS AT JAIL WHERE MAN DIED

Inquest Hears Staff Would Have Helped

Five corrections officers who worked at the Owen Sound Jail the weekend of
George Russell Frivalt's death all told a coroner's inquest on Tuesday that
they performed regular checks on the rooms occupied by Frivalt and had no
reason to suspect the man was ever in distress.

Testimony has wrapped up in the inquest into the death of Frivalt, who died
on May 14, 2006, while serving a sentence at the jail.

Lt. Brad Burnett, an operational manager at the jail and the shift
supervisor on the night Frivalt died, said action would immediately have
been taken if any of Frivalt's fellow inmates had voiced whatever concerns
they may have had.

"All it would have taken is for someone to say to us, check on George,"
Burnett told inquest coroner Dr. Roger Skinner and a five-person jury.
"We'd have had him out of there and to the hospital in a heartbeat."

Frivalt was found dead in bed about 14 hours after he passed out in a room
in a section of the jail reserved for inmates who serve their sentences
intermittently on weekends. He was moved by fellow inmates from that room
into a nearby bedroom. Because Frivalt snored loudly for several hours
after passing out, everyone thought he was sleeping. No one realized he may
have ingested a lethal dose of methadone before checking into the jail on
the morning of May 13, 2006.

The word was passed around among the jail guards that Frivalt, in Burnett's
words, "was not his normal gregarious self" and was sleeping more than
usual. Another guard was told by an inmate who operates his own business
that Frivalt had worked for him the previous week and had worked "pretty
hard," so the need for sleep was not questioned. The inquest was also told
that other inmates sometimes sleep their weekends away without problem.

Frivalt frequently needed to be cleaned up by other inmates while he slept
because he was drooling and his nose was runny. Pathologist Dr. Brian
Rudrick, who performed an autopsy on Frivalt, said this was likely due to
pulmonary edema, an accumulation of fluid in the lungs. He explained
methadone suppresses the respiratory system, meaning a person may not
breathe enough or deeply enough to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen.
This slows down the heart and results in a build-up of fluid in the lungs
which can leak out into the body's airways.

None of the inmates reported any of Frivalt's symptoms to the guards, who
never approached the sleeping man closely enough to see for themselves.

Burnett said staff at the jail are now becoming more familiar with the
symptoms of drug intoxication. In response to a question from a juror, he
said such familiarity is being developed informally.

"It's learn as you go," he said, noting the difficulty in being up to speed
on all of the drugs available to people these days, "but we try."

More work is being done to stem the flow of drugs into the jail. Frivalt
smoked cigarettes, marijuana and hash before passing out, and none of the
three substances are permitted in the facility, although they are regularly
smuggled in.

Provincial policy does not permit corrections officers to perform body
cavity searches on inmates so, if a person is suspected of bringing in
contraband, often the only solution is to isolate them in a room or cell
with a toilet that cannot be flushed. Burnett said searches for contraband
in the facility are taking place with more frequency.

It was suggested during testimony on Monday that Frivalt got his methadone
and consumed it outside the jail before checking in, but there is no
evidence available to prove that due to a lack of proper surveillance
equipment outside the facility.

The jury was to begin its deliberations today.