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-\.cl I REPORTERIS RECORD

INQUEST HEARING NO. 1,7_OLOA
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IN RE: KELLI LEANNE PAGE
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INQUEST HEARING
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I7 the 19th day of December, 2017, the
On
1B following proceedings came on to be heard in the above
!9 entitled and numbered cause before the Honorable COY

20 LATHAM, Judge presiding, held in Gatesville, Coryell

21. County, Texas:
22

23 Proceedings reported by Stenographic Method.

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7 APPEARANCES
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MR. DUSTY BOYD
4 DISTRICT ATTORNEY
sBor No. 24050317
5 20]_ South 7th Street
Gatesville, Texas 76528
6 Phone : 254-B 65-5911 ext. 2267
ATTORNEY FOR STATE
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1 ]NQUEST HEAR]NG
z DECEMBER 79, 20l.7 Page

Opening Statement by Mr. Boyd 4

4 STATETS WITNESSES Direct Cross

tr,
Sparks Veasey 6

6 Adam Russell 33

1 Court Reporterrs Certificate 79

tJ

10 EXHIBIT INDEX
11

1,2 STATE I S

13 NO. DESCR] PT TON OFFERED ADMITTED

\
1.4 1 Autopsy Report 27 21

15 2 Video 14 74

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1B

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21, I

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1 THE COURT: Good morning. Werre going to

just have a little formal hearingr drr Inquest Hearing
2

3 over the deceased, Ke1li Ann Page today. The DA is

4 going to be giving us Mr. Boyd is going to be giving
5 us an openj-ng statement here in a minute.
6 With that being said, this is case my
1 Inquest Number I7-0104. All right. We'11- get started.
B Irm going to ask anybody giving any testi-mony today if
9 they will stand so I can get y'al1 sworn in.
10 MR. BOYD: Your Honor, I have two
11 witnesses, Ranger Adam Russe11, and Dr. Sparks Veasey.

I2 THE COURT: Good morning. If y'al1 would

13 raise your right hand, we'll get y'a11 sworn in.

I4 (Witnesses administered the oath)

15 THE COURT: Thatrs good. All right.
L6 Mr. Boyd, Ifm going to go ahead and turn it over to you
L'7 and let you start us out with your opening statement
18 and kind of give us a reference here of what's going
I9 on.
20 MR. BOYD: Yes, Your Honor, please the
2I Court. Your Honor, pursuant to 49.01 of Chapter 49 of
22 the Texas Criminal Code, the District Attorneyrs office
23 has requested this Court to entertain and perform a
1A
LA public inquest into the deceased, Kell-i Ann Page, who
25 died in custody whil-e in the Coryell County jail. This
 q

1 inquest was requested by my office on December 5th/

2 2OIi, and set by this Court for today, December the
3 19th, 2017 .
4 There are some just some housekeeping
5 issues in rel-ation to Chapter 49. For purposes of the
6 record, there are some things that we want to
7 incorporate into the record to insure that once the
8 Court has completed hearing all of the testimony and
9 the evidence in relation to this inquest, once you
10 provide a certified copy of the inquest summary report,
11 the Court does have information on the record. The
I2 name of the deceased person is Kelli Leanne Page. Time
13 of death was at 9:01 a.m. The date was October 8th,
T4 2011. She was then and there found in the Coryell
15 County jaif. This Inquest Hearing is being held today,
I6 December 19th, 201-1 , at 10 a.m. j-n the Coryell County
t1 Annex, the 44Oth District Courtroom at 205 South 7th
1B Street, GatesvilIe, Texas , '7 6528 . The two wj-tnesses
I9 that will be provided to the Court for this j-nquest is
20 Dr. Sparks Veasey and Texas Ranger Adam Russell. Those
2I two witnesses will be providing the majority of the
22 information for the Court.
23 Also, for purposes of the record, this is
24 an open inquest, wherein it is open for the public to
25 sit and listen to the testimony and the questions posed
 6

1 to those witnesses. And so for purposes of the record

2 and j-nclusive with Chapter 49, I believe If ve probably
3 covered the bases there in terms of the information and
4 the facts that are needed eventually for the sunimary of
5 the Court for the Court to provide to the District
6 Clerk upon completion of the inquest.
1 With that, Your Honor, the State's first
8 wj-tness will be Dr. Sparks Veasey.
9 SPARKS P. , ITT I M. D.
VEASEY

10 having been previously sworn, testified as foIlows,

11 to-wit:
I2 MR. BOYD: May I proceed, Your Honor?
13 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
1,4 MR. BOYD: Thank your Your Honor, please
15 the Court.
I6 DIRECT EXAMINATION
T1 QUESTIONS BY MR. BOYD:

1B O. Good morning, sir. If you will-, please

I9 introduce yourself to the Court and spell your last
20 name for the record.
2I A. My name is Sparks PI initial- only, Veasey,
22 V_E_A_S_E-Y, the third.
./< O. Dr. Sparks, how are you employed, sir?
24 A. My full-time
:ob is as a clinical professor at
25 Sam Houston State University. A1so, I'm a pathologist,
 1

1 and f have continued to do some autopsies incorporating

2 into my teachj-ng, and I do them at the Montgomery
3 County Forensic Services where I was the boss for a
4 numbe r of years. T rm also a lawyer, and I practice

q
some l-aw as we1l, mostly paperwork law.
6 O Doctor, itrs a little unique that you're a

1 medical examiner in conjunction with also being a

8 l-icensed attorney; is that right?

9 A. Yes, sir.
10 O. How many other medical examiners in the state
11 that you are aware of actually have those kind of dual
I2 capacities that you are aware of?
13 A. Maybe another two or three. That I s a guess.
I4 That's probably about right.
15 O. What kind of education is required to become a
I6 medical- examiner?
1,1 A. Well, most people it's college four years
1B of college. I got in medj-cal- school a year early. And

T9 I do not have an undergraduate degree. I attended the

)n Unive rs ity of Texas Medical- Branch j-n Gal-veston, and
2I becoming doctor is a requirement to be a medical
a

22 examiner. I finished that. I did an internship in

ZJ internal medi-cine at Methodist Hospital in Dal1as, went
24 into psychiatry for a short period of time till I
25 decided that was not what I wanted to do, and then I
 B

1 went in the Air Force. The Air Force had paid my way
2 through medical- school-. I was on what's cal-l-ed the
3 Health Profession Scholarship Program. I went in. I
4 was a flight sergeant for a year and-a-half or
5 something l-ike that. I applied for a residency in
6 pathology, and I received one at an Army hospital,
7 Wal-ter Reed Army Medical Center in Washi-ngton D.C. I
B completed that in I984.
9 I then had one of the most interesting
10 jobs in the military. I went up the hill from Walter
11 Reed. It's on the Walter Reed campus to what was

12 called the Armed Forces Tnstitute of Pathology. I did

13 airplane crash j-nvestigations. We f lew pretty much
I4 anywhere in the world where a military plane a U.S.
15 plane crashed, and sometimes we got involved in
I6 civilian cases as well. We did the autopsies. The

L1 cases met our cri-teria. We made identification. We

18 interacted with the accj-dent board to try to provide

T9 informati-on that might prevent a similar crash in the
20 future. I then was reassigned back to San Antonio
2T where I had come i-nto the military as a this thing
22 had come along called HTLV-3 it was called at that
23 time, later HTV, AIDS, and we recognized that we had
24 cases in the mil-itary and going back to what a
25 pathologist is, a pathologist a general pathologist
 9

I is one who may look at things under the mi-croscope. If

2 you have your appendix taken out, if you have something
3 cut off of you, we look at it under the microscope,
4 descri-be what it is and if it's malignant or not and
5 that sort of thing. We al-so deal- with laboratorj-es.
6 Anyway, when I came back to San Antonlo,
1 I was assigned in the immunology lab and doing general
B responsibilities. I was one of the directors in the
9 immunology lab studying people in the military who had
10 been diagnosed with HTLV-3 or AIDS.
11 I got out of the service and went to work
I2 in West Texas for a number of years as a hospital
13 pathologist. I then decided I wanted to do a formal
I4 training program in forensic pathology. I did that in
15 New Mexico at the of f i-ce of the medical- investigator.
1,6 I came back to West Texas in the Arnarillo area as a

71 forensic pathologist. I subsequently went back to

18 Odessa as a forensic pathologist and then to Lubbock.
I9 I had an opportunity to go back to the medical- school
20 from which I graduated. They had inherited
27 responsi-bility for doing autopsies on prisoners, and
they needed forensic pathologists in Gal-veston. So I
23 went down there on autopsy service. I was promoted to
24 the director of the autopsy service. And during that
25 period of time, I the old medical examiner in
 10

1 Gal-veston County was wanting to retire, and we worked

2 out an interl-ocal- agreement between the medical- school-
3 and the County to provide medical examiner services for
4 the County. I became with an understanding it was

5 going to be part-time or not for a long period of time,

A I became the chief medical- examiner.
1 About thatperiod of time, f had a
same

B midl-ife crisis and decided to go to law school-r so I

9 did. I continued most of that t i-me that f was in law
10 school- doing some autopsies in Gal-veston. I graduated
11 from law school in 2002 or 2003 and went back to the
I2 medical examiner office ful-l time as the chief . I left
13 there and went then to Sam Houston State University
I4 where I became the director of the forensic science
15 program. I did that for a couple of years, deci-ded I

I6 wanted to get some trial experi-ence so I went to the

L1 District Attorney's office in Brazor:-a County where

18 Angleton and Lake Jackson are and started off as a

79 misdemeanor prosecutor and became chief of the

20 misdemeanor section, then moved upstairs to the civil
2T division. T handled cl-aims agaj-nst the County and
22 expunctions and nondisclosures and that sort of thing.
23 Ihada personal I inherited my very
)/ very elderly brother, who was losing his ability to
25 think wel-1. I needed to make more money, so I went
 11

7 back j-nto forensic pathology and did that for a period

2 of time, up until two and-a-hal-f years ago or
3 thereabouts.
4 I came back to Sam Houston State. I
tr
J teach in the college of criminal- justice, and they have
6 divided it j-nto departments. I teach in the college of
1 crimi-nal- justice and crj-minology, that's one of the
B departments, and then I teach in the forensic scj-ence
9 department as wel-l. We recently had graduation a
10 couple of weeks dgo, our first PH.D. person to graduate
11 from forensic scj-ence, and I think that's the first one
1,2 in the country as well-. That's what I do. I practice
13 some law, and it's mostly estate planning and that sort
t4 of thing and do some consulting in forensi-c pathology.
15 THE COURT: So I did hear in there that
t6 you are very fami-liar and have done inmate deaths ?

71 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.

18 THE COURT: Okay.
19 THE WITNESS: Lots of them.
20 MR. BOYD: Thank you, Judge.
21 0. (BY MR. BOYD) That's kind of to my next
22 question with you, Doc. Certainly with your years of
23 training and experience related to autopsy and
24 pathology, more especially in conjunction with what you
)\ are here for today, have you had, on occasion, to
 L2

1 become engaged or be requested to become engaged in

2 evaluating and considering the dynamics and issues
3 rel-ated to in custody or inmate deaths ?
4 A. Yes, sir. We did the autopsies in Galveston
5 for a bunch of the prr_sons r_n Texas, and there are ways
6 that those deaths are handled. When I was there, the
1 State wanted to do as many autopsies on as many

B prt_soners, talking about State pensr we are not

we are
9 talking about County jails, but State pensr ds
10 possibler;ust to understand why people died in the
11 prisons. And so Ifve autopsied or supervi-sed the
1,2 performance of autopsies, suj-cides from the State Pen,
13 homicides from the State pefl, many natural deaths of
I4 prr_soners / as wel-l as County facilities
or City
15 facilities as wel-I. If we took the case as a medical-

I6 examiner or if in a county like Montgomery County and

I1 like CoryelI County, the decision of who has an autopsy
1B performed on them is the discretion of the Justice of

1,9 the Peace, who serves as the coroner in the County.

20 So I've had lots of them, and I review a

2I lot of cases at the request of other people with

22 in-custody deaths here in Texas. I don't do the
23 autopsy only.
24 O. Is it fair to say then, Doc, also that in the
25 course of your career and testifyi-ng in relation to
 13

1 these dynami-cs, have you testified, to frame it this

2 wdY, both for the State and the defense r_n ways rn
3 terms of your expertise in this area, you've testlfied
4 for both si-des?
5 A. I have. I do not recall testifying for the
6 defense in a prisoner case that I can remember. f have
1 certai-nly testified for the State because I did the
B autopsy in a number of homicide cases.
9 O. But outside of i-n-custody deaths, you've also
10 been communicating, contacted and contracted with the
11 defense attorneys to also give an opinion about the
1,2 nature of someone t s death?
13 A Absol-utely.
74 OIn relation to that, Doctor, how does -- how
15 do you go about or how does a medj-cal- examiner go about

I6 revr_ewr_ng someone efsets work in relation to an

I1 autopsy?
18 A. r w€ look at the report and any type of
Wel-I

79 other information that we may need. In the present

20 case, medical records are i-mportant, and so I reviewed
2T some medical- records, the autopsy report, and I picked
22 up the phone and talked with the chief medical examiner
23 in Dal-las about this case. I tal-ked with him
24 yesterday. I told him that I was going to be coming
)q over here today and that I had a littl-e bit of a
 I4

1 disagreement with the way that they had assigned the

2 case out. He understood. He remembered the case.
3 O. In relation to that, Doc, the indivldual or
4 the doctor that you spoke with up at the Southwest
5 Institute of Forensic Science, that is going to be
6 their director of chief medj-cal examiner, that would be
1 Jeffrey Barnard; is that correct?
8 A. Riqht. He's the chief. We have been friends
9 for a long time. I didn't want him to get mad at me

10 for coming over here today, but I told him that I had
11_ been asked to, and he had no problem with it at all.
72 O. Has it been uncornmon for
or Dr. Barnard
SWIFS
13 to ask for your opinion before about the nature or

I4 resul-ts of autopsies?
15 A. No. These in-custody deaths, he frequently
I6 refers whoever j-s handling the case and has the
L7 question to me.

1B O. To a degree, it's professional relationship

79 where they rely on your expertise quite a bit in terms

20 of i-n-custody deaths?

21 A. Well, they know that I make my living telling

the truth and that I rm going to say what I think is
z3 right. They don't I may not be as smart as them,
24 but I rm going to say what I think is right. I think I
25 usually am right. I hope I am.
 15

1 O. To that degree, they trust you in referring

2 cases out for your opinion?
J A. They do.
A
0. We'll get into a little bit more detail about.
the dynamics of your disagreements with some certain
tr.

6 findings, but kind of along the same line of

7 questioning, Doctor, is it fair to say that you have
B agreed with their findings in the past?
9 A. Oh, sure.
10 O. And is it faj-r to say you di-sagreed with their
11 findings in the past?

I2 A. Probably. Sometimes it's the wordi-ng of a

13 cause of death or whether somethi-ng should be included

I4 on the autopsy report or not. Irm sure that I have

15 disagreed in the past. I don't recall any major
L6 disagreements.
I1 O.In rel-ation to your discussion with Dr.
18 Barnard yesterday, coul-d you tell- the Court, you know,

I9 how woufd you qualify the nature of that conversation

20 in terms of talking through the dynamics of this

2I particular case with Ms. Page?

22 A. Wellr fly discussion with Dr. Barnard was
z3 certai-nIy ami-cable, and I brought up what was talked

24 about in the autopsy report, and he said this is the

25 case where the quard/correctional- officer hit her with

 76

1 his fist. I said, Yes, that's the one/ severaf times.

2 He was aware that the decedent had a markedly enlarged
3 heart, and he recal-l-ed that there were two guards or
4 correctional officers in the cell wlth her during the
5 use of force. One of them had his hand back up on her
6 shoulders, and the other person was kind of straddling
1 her down at the over her legs and buttocks area.
o She had he remembered this a set of handcuffs
9 that she would not give the guard. She had taken them
10 away. They were under her.
11 I pointed out to him that he had put, as
12 the prj-mary cause of death, mechanical asphyxia, which
13 is a compression that prevents a person from breathing.
14 I pointed out number I, there is nothing in the autopsy
15 report that is objective that f can point to and say
L6 this was asphyxia was an asphyxial death. She has a

L1 heart that is probably about twice as biq as it should

l_8 be, twice as heavy, 61-0 g.rams. That is a very very
I9 large heart. We see people with frequency who are
20 going about their daily activities who die, and we do
2T an autopsy, and that is the finding
22 Tt E COURT: May I ask something?
23 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
24 THE COURT: What I s a normal sLze heart of
25 a woman?
 I7

I THE WITNESS: Probably no mo re that Is

2 a touchy subj ect right now. There is a lot of dispute

3 in the l-iterature. We think itrs probably Iower than
4 it has been ascribed in the past. Probably no more
5 than 300 or 320 grams. So it's going on twice as biq
6 as it should be. What happens is, I mean, the heart is
1 a muscle. It I s a particular type of muscle, and big
B muscles are good except in the heart. We have high
9 blood pressure if a person has high bl-ood pressure
10 and untreated, the heart is going to be pumping against
11 that increased pressure throughout the body, the
L2 increased pressure. It's going to be pumping, and i-t's
13 going to enlarge. Itrs going to be hypertrophy. That
t4 is not good. Wefve got rhythms that come up in the
15 heart, €lectrical- currents that start j-n a particular
I6 part of the heart, and they go throughout, and it
I7 promulgates that pumping motion. If the heart gets
18 btq, that may interrupt that current, and the person go
t9 into an arrhythmi-a or abnormal heart rhythm that's not
20 conduc j-ve to li f e . We wouldn ' t hes itate , Barnard
2I agrees with me, that these hypertensive cardiovascul-ar
22 dj-sease that word is the describes that enlarged
23 heart that can be an explanation for a person's
24 death and frequently is in his office and in the Conroe
25 office.
 1B

1 The decedent also had what's cal-l-ed

2 pitting edema described in the autopsy report. That I s
3 two plus pitting edema. Thatrs in the Iegs. The leg
4 swells up. You put pressure on it, and it l-eaves an
5 indention there. Pitting edema. Now, she has two
6 reasons for potential pitting edema. One was she may
1 have had an el-ement of congestive heart failure related
B to the big heart. Another thing is that she had
9 cirrhosis of the liver. I don't know, there's some
10 laboratory stuff in there. I didn't really look at it.
11 But some people who have cirrhosis of the liver, the
12 amount of protein an the blood goes down, and it
13 doesnft hold the water inside the blood vessels like
I4 it's supposed to, and it will leak out into tissues,
15 and they can get that pitting edema as well.
I6 Al-so, the decedent was what is
t1 described in the autopsy report as morbidly obese.
1B Based upon the weight versus her height, that's a

I9 medj-cal term morbid obesity, I agree that she was

20 morbidly obese.
2I I tol-d him I said, Therefs not
22 anything obj ective in the autopsy one of the things
23 that one can see with asphyxial deaths are these little
24 red spots that occur in the eyes. His Honor has
25 probably seen some of these things where a person is
 I9

1 hanged or otherwise dies an asphyxial death. These

2 little red spots on the inside of the eyelids called
3 palpebral conjunctiva/ P-A-L-P-E-B-R-A-L, and I donrt
4 know how to spell conjunctiva, but it begins C-O-N-J,
5 or on the white parts of the eyeball, that's call-ed the
6 bulbar conjunctj-va. And those specifically it says in
1 the autopsy report there were none there.
8 THE COURT: There was none.
9 THE WITNESS: There were none, flo, sir.
10 He understands my position and doesn't dispute iler Dr.
11 Barnard.
L2 O. (BY MR. BOYD) Now, Doc, when we first met
13 and we were talking about how the SWIFS had ultimately
74 qualified the death as a homicide, that immediately
15 leads into a different discussion i-n terms of what
I6 homici-de means i-n the medical worfd versus what
!1 homicide might mean in the criminal- world. To help the
18 Court and to help us better understand thatr ds a

I9 medical- examiner, how does a medical examiner arrive at

20 that type of terminology?
27 A. Well, much of it is by convention, just this
22 is the way things have been done. Sometimes it really
23 doesn't make a lot of sense, but if I was in my
24 fellowship in New Mexico, we probably would describe
25 the manner of death in this case as an accident. That
 20

1 has changed over time, and we use the term homicide

2 because somebody is touchj-ng that person, has somethinq
3 to do with interacting with that person in a situation
4 where the Epinephrj-ne, the adrenaline in the system,
5 may be going up. Most people in the country would call
6 this a homicide. I would, too. That seems to be the
1 convention now.
8 When we use the term homici-de, it is not
9 the way that the lawyers woufd use it. It is there
10 was interaction between somebody and the decedent, and
11 therefore it's a homi-cide. That doesn't mean criminal
12 culpability to us. We I re not implying criminal
13 culpability. If a police officer shoots the person
14 who's coming at him with a hatchet or who is raising a

15 gun at him shoots that person, and that shooti-ng is

L6 absolutely justified. We cafl those homicides, too.
I7 That doesn't imply a crimlnal responsibility. It
1B doesn't imply If m going to use this as a lawyer
I9 term, it doesn't imply intent. Intent is one of the
20 culpable mental- states in Texas, and the buzz words in
21 there are a conscious objective or desire. Irve seen
22 the video in this case. I do not think that there is a

23 conscious objective or desire for those guards to hurt

24 the decedent. I think the term homicide simply means

25 that interaction that was going on.

 2I

1 THE COURT: There are several- different

2 types of homicide listed in the law book law
3 dictionary.
4 THE WITNESS: Right.
5 THE COURT: fn your professional opinion,
6 what type do you think this is?
7 THE WITNESS: I don't think that this is
B a criminal homicide at all-. It'sjust that interactj-on
9 that was taking p1ace. I do not think this was a
10 cri-minal act.
IT THE COURT: So you would define it as

L2 inter actual- homi-cide?

13 THE WITNESS: Noncriminal homiclde.
I4 THE COURT: Noncriminal.
15 THE WITNESS: Right. That may not be in
!6 the book, but that's the way that I would def ine it.
I1 THE COURT: I had read several- different
1B types, you know, in trying to peace things together
I9 myself.
20 THB WITNESS: Yes, sir.
27 O. (BY MR. BOYD) And, Doctor, I think what a
22 Iot of people struggle with, with that particular label
23 or qualification, is, we coul-d probably be here all day
24 and create different analogies or different situations,
25 whether it be there I s a human dynamic or human
 22

I int.eraction wlth the individual that not for the intent

z but because of the interaction causes the ultimate
3 A. Riqht.
4 O. For example, if a doctor is operating on an
5 individual- in an operating room and there's a death
6 based on the operation, that certainly may not get
1 quali fied AS a homicide because that I s more of a
B consensual interaction between the parties. Albeit, we

9 woul-d use the analogy of someone driving down the

10 street and someone runs out in the middl-e of the road
11 and hits them with a car I certainly there's human

72 interaction involved in that type of analogy, but still-

13 that would be qualified as an accident.
I4 A. Right. I think going a little bit further,
15 somebody gets liquored up and drj-ves a car and hits
1,6 somebody and kills them, this is part of it that
I7 really it's based upon convention. We call those
18 cases accidents. They are going to call that an
I9 intoxication manslaughter case or 1ikely to do that,
20 and they're Iikely the other person. That's
to indict
2t a crimi-nal act, but we cal-l them accidents. Itf s just
22 convention. That I s the way it's done.
23 O. And that flips that convention on its head,
.A especially in relation to what we are talking about
25 today.
 23

1 n Right.
2 O What woul-d qualify as an accident in that case
3 would certainly be called a criminal act in terms of
4 the Criminal Code set forth therein
and the definition
5 terms of potentially qualifying as a criminal offense.
6 For purposes of this inquest, Doc, I think you have
1 already clearly establ-ished what your opinion on
B this, but as it relates to the finding of SWIFS as a
9 homicide, you agree with that?
10 A. I agree.
11 O. But to the degree, not only with your
I2 experience as a medical- examiner but as an attorney,
13 your opinion is based on the autopsy and the inherent

1,4 physical conditions of Ms. Page

15 A. Right.
I6 O. in conjunction with watching the video and
I7 the interaction with the law enforcement officers or
1B jailers, j-t's your opinion that there was no criminal
L9 intent or culpability arising out of that incident.

20 A. I'm not a use of force expert, but based upon

21. what Irve seen in the past, I donft think so. Did I
22 say that right? I don't think there was criminal-
/< culpability there.
24 O. To that extent, I know that the autopsy goes
25 on to qualify certain other findings. I know you have
 24

1 already outlined and qualified mechanical asphyxia for

2 what you disagree with. That disagreement is based on
3 the objectivity of evaluating the video.
4 A. I canft say that f cannot say that there
5 was not an asphyxial component. I can say that I can I t
6 say that there was in reasonabl-e medj-cal probability.
1 That I s what I'm bound to, reasonable medical
8 probability.
9 O. When we first tal-ked, Doctor, we tal-ked about
10 other forms of asphyxiation. There could have been
11 possibly of course this would be speculation, but
1,2 there coul-d have been possibly some other forms of
13 asphyxiation that could have occurred with Ms. Page,

I4 based on her condition; is that right?

15 A. Right. But there's nothing objective that
L6 suggests that with a compelling reason for her to die
1,1 with that markedly enlarged heart.
1B O. In relation to thatr so you understand that
1,9 the medical examiner's report, the number 1 finding is
20 mechanical asphyxiation?
2! A. Right.
22 O. For which you objectively disagree.
z3 A. Right.
24 O. And then the second one is the hypertensi-ve
25 cardj-ovascul-ar disease, and third is cirrhosis, fourth
 25

1" is obesity, and they have a fifth one of a contusion

2 surrounding the l-eft eye. The sixth one is a word I
3 don't want to even attempt to read, cholelithiasis,
4 it's on page 6 of the
5 A. Cholelithiasis, C-H-O-L-E-L-I-T-H-I-A-S-I-S.
6 That I s gallstones.
1 a. Right.
B A. Those are not those are just findings that
9 they made. If you look on the last page where
10 basically an opinion is given, the medi-ca1 examiner had
11 said cause of death, mechanical asphyxia in association
I2 with physical- restraint. That would be what he j-s
13 suggesting go on the first l-ine of the death
I4 certificate. The Judge will know that there's a part
15 two of the death certificate which are contributing
1,6 factors. They put as contributing factors being
71 hypertensive cardiovascular disease, cirrhosj-s, and
1B obesity.
I9 O. Now, based on your evaluation, how would you
20 qualify that paragraph? How woul-d you have written it?
2I A. f woul-d have written that the cause of death,
22 the top l-ine/ cause, the reason that the person died,
23 hypertensive cardiovascul-ar disease in association with
24 physical restraj-nt while in custody.
25 I would put down in part 2 of the death
 26

1 certificate, which is the other significant

2 contributing disorders, morbi-d obesity, and hepatic
cirrhosis. Hepatic means liver cirrhosis, cirrhosis of
4 the liver.
5 . Is it fair to say that was incorporated in
O

6 part of your discussions with Dr. Barnard about how you

1 would have qualified it?
I A Right.
9 n In terms of that discussion with SWIFS, is
10 that something he understood?
11 A. Oh, sure.
1,2 O. I mean, in terms of that professj-on, did he
13 understand and respect your opinion?
I4 A. He does.
15 O. Itrs fair to say this is a unj-que set of
T6 circumstances, what I perceive as a lot of it's kind
I1 of the perfect storm, it's a l-ot of different dynamj-cs
18 working agai-nst Ms. Page that morning on October 8th,
19 in terms of her inherent physical conditi-ons in
20 connectj-on with the issues, the behavioral issues in
21_ the jail for which the Ranger will discuss a little bit
22 more in detail.
z-7 But ul-timately, Doctor, the Judge has to
24 make a decj-sion in terms of this Inquest Hearing
25 whether or not her death was a resul-t of any type of
 21

1 crj-minal conduct. It's your opinion this morning that

2 you don't see that. You don't have that opinion.
3 A. I do not think that there was cri-minal
4 conduct. That's based on the video and the autopsy
5 report.
6 MR. BOYD: Your Honor, at this tj-me, f
7 know that the Court has a copy of the autopsy, but for
d purposes of the certification that the Court is gor_ng
9 to have to supply with the District Clerk at a later
10 time, the State is gor-ng to offer what I s been marked

11 State's I, which is the autopsy for which Dr. Veasey

I2 has testified from, as well as the autopsy that the

13 Court has received directly from SWIFS. We'll offer
I4 this as State's 1.
LJ THE COURT: We'll enter this into
1,6 evidence.
T1 MR. BOYD: Thank you, Your Honor.
18 A. Can I make one other comment?
79 O. (BY MR. BOYD) Yeah. I was going to say is
20 there anything else that you think is important for the
2I Court to consider in terms of this inquest?
22 A. I did not speci-fically ask Dr. Barnard, but I
23 think if he was sitting here, he would tell you that he

24 didn't see any criminal conduct either. I think he

25 would. I mean, the cause of death I have seen

 2B

1 people in prison who were undergoing restraint, and

z their neck get bent, and the restraini-ng people didn't
J recogni-ze that. You know, they didn't mean to cause
4 that personrs death. I wouldn't see that even with
5 the presence of an asphyxial component, I woul-d not see
6 that as a crimj-nal act. I think he would say the same
1 thing. I don't know that, but I think he woul-d.
B O. In conjunction with that, and I think you
9 when you initiated the conversation with him in terms
10 of remembering this particular case, the one dynamic

11 that was very present was the fact that there was some

I2 hand strikes.
13 A. Right.
1,4 O. Is it fair to say that the exami-ners and
15 this may be a completely different discussi-on that

76 could take quite a bit of time, but when a medical

I1 examiner is performi-ng an autopsy, there are times when

1B a ranger or an investigator is present with the

19 examiner in conjunctj-on with that autopsy; is that

20 right ?

2I A. Riqht.
22 O. And is it fai-r to say then their purpose j-s
23 there may be some questions about the dynamics of what

24 was going on with the deceased at the time that may be

25 helpful for them in understanding how they died; is

 29

1 that fair to say?

Z A Yes, sir.
3 n So in terms of one of the characteristi-cs that
4 was most profound, at least j-n terms of remembering
5 this partj-cular case, is that there were some hand
6 strikes.
1 A. Right.
B O. Is it colnmon/ uncommon, or is it fair that if
9 a medi-cal examiner who is performing the autopsy sees
10 the video, and in this case they did see the vj-deo up

11 in Dallas at the same time

I2 A At least Dr. Hasti-ngs, who did the autopsy, he

13 did see i-t.

t4 O. And could that i-nfluence their decision in

15 terms of how they decide to make a ruling of death if

I6 they are seeing other things that I s j-ndependent or

I1 outside of what a medical- finding would be?
1B A WelI, this is one of the things that Dr.
I9 Barnard remembered \7Ar\7
v v!J c1ear1y, the hand strikes. It
20 got my attention, too.

2I O. Sure. Is there anything about their autopsy

22 at SWIFS or your evaluation of the autopsy and the
/< video that is incorporated into the autopsy that even
24 suggest that any of these hand strikes had any

25 contributory factor to her death?

 30

1 A. No. Hitting in the head, in the

somebody
z face , Lf it's going to cause a death, it's usually
3 hemorrhage around the brain or hemorrhage that occurs
4 as a couple of vessel-s come up the back of the neck and
tr
J go into the head, the so-called vertebral arteries, and
6 thatfs so-cal1ed boxer's injury where a person is hit
1 and their neck goes to one side very quickly and tears
I one of those arteries. She did not have any hemorrhage
9 in her head that is described in the autopsy report.
10 So, rro, they had nothing to do with her
TI death. There were no skull fractures, no contusions of
I2 the brain that were described.
13 O. Therers one other area that I do want to visit
I4 with you about before I ask for your release, Doctor.
15 You observed on the video that at one point the ; ailers

I6 did have to deploy or engage in pepper spray.

L1 A. Right.
1B O. In conjunction with engaging or deploying the
1-9 pepper spray/ could that dynamic could it have
20 affected her breathing, or could that have contributed
21, to potential any type of asphyxiation?
22 A. I guess it coul-d. There I s not anything
23 objective there, once agar_n, that I can sdy, so

24 therefore, I cantt say it in reasonable medical-

25 probability.
 31

1 O. You also were abl-e to I know the family had

2 this one particular question they wanted to ask through
3 me in terms of watching the jailers engage from
4 compliance standing to lifesaving measures. You were
5 able to watch the jailers as they kind of changed hats
6 or went into that role versus the compliance issue into
1 lifesaving measures. You were able to watch that?
8 A. Right.
9 O. You were able to see them perform CPR and some
10 other lifesaving measures.
11 A. Yes, si-r.
T2 O. Is there anything about how they conducted CPR

13 that gave you any concerns that they were doing it

L4 wrong? Was there anything out of the video that gives
15 you concerns about their attempts to resuscitate her?
T6 A. Back when I used to take care of living
t1 patients, we did CPR differently. That has changed
1B over the years. I became certified doing CPR a number
I9 of years ago with the new system, and it was my opj-nion
20 that the CPR that was done by the j ailer, by the
2I correction officer/ was the way it is supposed to be
22 done now. There were give me just a second here.
There were some rib fractures that are
24 consj-stent with having occurred duri-ng cardiopulmonary
25 resuscitation. We usually see when somebody knows
 32

1 what he or she is doing with CPR on an adul-t of this

2 dger we usually see rib fractures.
3 O. And that woul-d be the sternum that's fractured
4 at the level- of the third ribs and left second through
5 sixth rib fracture. They even qualified in the autopsy
6 that could be consistent with CPR?

1 A. Riqht. Those numbered ribs, two through six,

o
U are the ones that I usual 1 y see fractured. The sternum
9 is the breast bone. That Is where the CPR is being
10 g1ven.
11 MR. BOYD: Your Honor, I d.on' t have any
T2 other questions of the doctorr so I I ll defer to the
13 Court at this time.
I4 THE COURT: Okay. You may step down.
15 Thank you.
I6 MR. BOYD: May he be released?
1,1 THE COURT: Yes, he may be refeased.
1B Before we take our next witness, let's
1,9 take a 10 minute break.
20 (Brief recess taken at this time)
27 THE COURT: We're going to be back in
22 sessr_on.
23 Mr. Boyd, you had another wi-tness.
24 MR. BOYD: I do, Your Honor. Thank you.
25 Please the Court, we'11 call Ranger Adam Russel-I.
 33

t THE COURT: Mr. Russell, you understand

2 you are still- under oath/ correct?
3 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir, I do.
4 MR. BOYD: May I proceed, Your Honor?
5 THE COURT: Yes.
6 MR. BOYD: Thank you, Your Honor.
1 ADAIT{ RUSSELL

I having been previously duly sworn, testified as

9 f oll-ows, to-wit:
10 DIRECT EXAMINATION
11 QUESTIONS BY MR. BOYD:
1,2 O. Ranger, rf you will, please state your name

13 for the Court and for the record.

L4 A My name is Adam Ray Russell, R-U-S-S-E-L-L.
15 O. And, Ranger, how are you employed?
L6 A. I fm employed by the Texas Department of Public
L1 Safety as a Texas Ranger.
1B O. How long have you been serving in that
I9 capacity?
20 A. As a Texas Ranger?
2I tl Yes, sir.
22 Little over a year now.
ZJ O Prior to becoming a Ranger, how long were you
24 wlth DPS?

25 A. ffve been with the department now 15 years.

 34

I O. And how does one become a Ranger with DPS?

2 A. There's a certain time that you've got to

3 spend on the road. Yourve got to spend at least four
4 years on the road before you are able to promote. You

5 have to have a total- of eight years l-aw enforcement

6 experience, four of those years can come from an

7 outside agency. Once you make it through the academy,

B there's a series of tests you have to take. You have
9 to take a written test. It would be best if you have
10 investigative background in your experience. Once you
11 take the test and score high enough, they'11 take the

I2 top 10 test scorers and conduct an oral interview

13 board. Then you are hand picked from that oral- board.
I4 O. There Is approximately 150 Rangers throughout
15 the State of Texas?
I6 A. I believe so. That's close at this time.
71 O. How are you Rangers assigned within the state?
18 A. Usually you actually board for a position
I9 that's posted, and you're assigned once you are
20 assigned as a Ranger, you have a certain terri-tory that
2I you are responsible for. All the Ranger divisions are
22 divided up into companies. I fm actually employed in
Company F/ and my areas of responsibility are Coryell
z+ County and Bel-l County.
25 O. And prior to working with DPS for these last
 35

t 15 years, how were you employed, Adam?

2 A. I was in the United States Marine Corps. I
3 spent five years as a Marine obtaining the rank of
4 Sergeant pretty early on. I was se.l-ected I
5 vol-unteered and was sel-ected to be a Marine Embassy
6 guard/ was stationed in South Braz:-I and Moscow,

7 Russi-a.
B O. In terms of your trainlng in the Marine Corp,
9 Ranger, is it fair to sdyr as a Marine, you are trained
10 and educated in lots of different dynamics of use of
11 force ?

I2 A. Yes, sir, in the Marines, as wel-l as in law

13 enforcement.
T4 O. Did that training then crossover and contj-nue
15 with your DPS training and your DPS experience?
L6 A. Yes, sj-r, it did. When they started teaching
I7 the force continuum, it was al-so used in the Marine
1B Corp. They used force continuum. It consists of
I9 anything from your just your presence to verbal-
20 commands to soft empty hand strikes and restraints all
21, the way up to lethal force. It I s actually described
22 the same way in law enforcement.
ZJ O. You said part of becoming a Ranger on
)A evaluation or consideration in becoming a Ranger, one
25 of the things that is helpful is being involved in
 36

1 i-nvestigations .

2 A. Correct.
3 O. In what capacity or what roles did you engage
4 in investigations with DPS prior to becoming a Ranger?
q
A. Upon promotj-ng, I promoted to narcotics. I
6 was transferred to Arnaril-lo. I spent fj-ve years doing
1 narcotics investigation and criminal conspiracies and
B everything f rom drug deals to white coll-ar crime.
9 O. In conjunction with your duties and
10 assignments here in Central Texas, in Coryell and Bell

11 where you are specj-f ically assi-gned, it I s also fair to

T2 say even though you are assigned to those particular

13 counties as a Ranqer statewide employee, you have

I4 jurisdiction throughout the State of Texas; is that

15 right

I6 A. Yes, sir. Thatrs true. I deployed to the

71 Southern Spring shooting. Ifve gone to other

IU investigations in other areas as the need arises

19 throughout the state.

20 O. As the need arises?

2I A. Yes, sir.
22 O. In your time as being a Ranger here in Central
23 Texas over the last year, is it fair to sdy, Ranqer,

24 that you've been engaged and involved in numerous

25 investigations regardi-ng death/ use of force, and those

 37

1 types of offenses?
2 A. Yes, sir. I fve already investigated several
3 in-custody deaths, police of f i-cer involved shootings.
4 I rve assisted on several homici-des and al-so l-aw
5 enforcement investigations where I had to take l-aw

6 enforcement officers to jail.

7 O. That leads me to my next question to Vour
d Ranger. In terms of overall assignments, what is DPSrs

9 mission for the Rangers? What type of cases do Rangers

10 generally investigate?
11 A. I would say mostly we're going to focus on
I2 cri-mes against people, anything from sexual assaults of
13 children to the in-custody deaths, of course the
I4 homici-des, and we also investigate public corrupti-on
15 and public integrity.
T6 O. In relation to public corruption and public
11 integrity, what is uni-que about the Rangers in their
18 capaci-ty in investj-gating those kind of cases?
79 A. A lot of times you have elected officials that
20 might have political gains in connection with the local
2L law enforcement; therefore, they canft really conduct a
22 non-biased see-through investigation,' therefore, it
23 would be kind of one hand, you know, shaking the other
)/
-= hand, and then things can get in the perception of
ctr, being covered up. Another thing that the Rangers can
 3B

1 do is step in at the request of the County to keep

2 transparency and objectivity open from the elected
? officials or the l-aw enforcement agency.
4 O. So, in other words, y'all have no dog in the
5 fight ?
6 A. No, srr.
1 O. You are there to conduct an objective
8 investigation and go where the evidence takes you?
9 A.. YeS, sr_r.
10 O. outside of any type of either
Free and
11 appearance or the reality of any type of political
I2 influence ?

13 A. Yes, sar.
I4 a) In conjunction with that, Ranger, were you
15 asked to engage in the investigation of an in-custody

L6 death of Kelli Page here in October of this year in

L7 Coryell County?

1'8 A. Yes, sir, f was.

I9 O. Initially, this is probably more generally,
20 what are your first steps in engaging or becoming part
2I of an j-nvestigation of this type ?
22 A. My first step is f want to preserve any
logbooks, any documentati-on, any videor dhy
24 survej-l*lance, and T want the scene to be sealed and
25 secured until my arrival. I want anybody that I s been
 39

1 involved directly with an incident Iike this, I would

2 like them separated, and typically I would like to tal-k
3 to them individually. I donft want them being able to
4 talk together so you don't Ifve got to get my story
5 stra j-ght . That I s j ust basic investigations .

6 O. Okay. Were you able to request that or secure

1 that dynamic at the onset of your investigation?
B A. Yes, sir. Due to the uniqueness of in-custody
9 deaths and the fact that I have worked other ones
10 already, I exactly what to ask for, and that was
knew

11 the first thing that I instructed the chief deputy at

I2 the time/ was who made I contact with. Thi s is what I
13 need, and I will be on my way.
I4 O. Were they abl-e to secure the s cene ?

15 A. Yes, they secured the scene, secured

1"6 discipline logs, secured jaif logsr dny observation
I1 sheets, any video that was taken, I asked for copies,
18 and then also separate any wi-tnesses or the people that

79 were involved.

20 O. In conjunction with that, then, Vou made

2I your you don't live in Coryell County
22 A No, SIT.
23 0. so you made your way to the County to
24 inve s tigate ?
25 A. Yes, sir.
 40

1 O. What was your first step or first role in

2 personally being hands on or being on deck with the
3 i-nvestigation? What did you do first?
4 A. First thing, I try to get an overal-l-
5 understanding of whatever happened. Tell me the story
6 of what happened. The sheriff briefed me, and he

1 already had the video made. He had the copi-es of the

B jail logs, the originals were stil-l on the jail cell
9 where they needed to be. Of course, the video camera
10 was running constantly in the hallway and in the cel-l
11 itself. The cell- was sealed with evidence tampered
I2 proof evidence tape and then initialed by their
13 sheri ff 's j-nvestigator, and, of course, the video is
I4 playing. You can see that no one has gone in there
15 since the scene has been secured. No one has al-tered
T6 anything. The videos appeared to be unaltered. There
7'7 are glitches on the video which is documented i-n my

18 report. But I need to get an overall- understanding.

79 Then If l-1 go do a wafk-thru.
20 0.. What is a wal-k-thru?
2I A. A walk-thru is I just heard what supposedly
22 happened. I havenrt watched the video yet, but I fm

23 listening to what people are saying to MA Now, I want

24 to go look to see if therefs evidence to support what
25 this person is telling me. Then you start looking at
 4I

1 the documentation and the facts. Do they support, once

2 you get done processing the scene which constitutes
3 overall photos and marking of any specific pieces of
4 evidence of interest that might be col-l-ected.
5 Due to this type of environment, it's a

6 very sterile environment. Itrs only a 10 and-a-hal-f by

1 11 and-a-hal-f foot cell with a bed thatf s mounted to
d the wall, a concrete stool, and then a vanity, and then
9 combination of toilet, sink, and mi TTor and then a

10 shower area with no curtains, very very sparsely

\1, furnished. And most of the personal j-tems j-n this
72 particul-ar cell- had been restricted so there was
13 everything was issued at this point. The jail clothes,
I4 towels, hygiene products, all of that stuff was all
15 issued. There I s not a lot there wasn't a lot of
I6 evidence to coll-ect. We did not take one piece of
I1 physical evidence from it. We used the best evidence
18 purposes/ which woul-d be photographs. How can I best
19 preserve the scene and anything of importance? f'm
20 going to document with photos. There was nothing l-eft
2I at the scene that particularly would have contributed
to facts that I couldn't see from the video or the
ZJ photos.
24 O. Did you take some photos then in conjunction
z3 with the video?
 42

1 A. took overall photos of

We photos of Kel-fi.
2 documenting her injuries to her body, any type of
J bruising I could see or that I coul-d make out, any
4 types of unusual things that I would look for that
tr
J might l-ead to anything other than what story I was told
6 outside.
7 Then, of course, once you do al-l- of that,
B you col-l-ect your witness statements. Then you sit
9 down, and you watch the video second by second and see
10 if it corroborates with what the witnesses have given
11 sworn statements to.

I2 O. From what witnesses did you receive statements

13 from?
!4 A. Corporal Lovelady and Jailer Pelfrey.
15 O. And those are the two jailers that were
16 involved in the engagement with Ms. Page j-n her cell?

71 A. Yes, sir.
18 O. Those statements were taken before you watched
I9 the video; is that right?
20 A. That is correct.
2I O. Did you have an opportunity to watch the
22 video ?

23 A. Yes. After I took the statements, I did watch

24 the video.
25 O. Were you able to what I would call measure up
 43

1 or compare what they represented in her statement

2 versus what you were able to observe in the video?
3 A. Yes. I believe their statements are
4 directly they portrayed the video I should say
5 their statement was corroborated by the video.
6 O. There wasnft anything that got your attention
1 in terms of inconsi-stencies, or misstatements, or
B misrepresentations about their engagement and what the
9 video reflected?
10 A No, sir, not at all.
11 O Now, this video does not have audio, correct?
12 A No, sir, it does not.
13 O Is that corTlmon or uncommon in jails to not
74 have audi-o?
15 A It's common not to have audio.
I6 u. After you received the statement, watched the
I1 video, you measured those two dynamics, what was the
IU next course of action in the course of your
1,9 investigation?
20 A. At that pointr we wanted to do a death
2I notification. We knew that the family had not been
22 notified at this point. One of the things they never

23 tell you about, when you do investigations, there is a

24 reason that we do there I s going to be an emoti-onal

25 connection that is made. And going back to being an
 44

1 objective investigator and not worki-ng for one entity

2 or the other, rf f f m working for anybody, I' m worki-ng
3 for the family. They have lost a l-oved one/ and it's
4 my job to answer al-l the questions that I can and share
5 as much informatj-on as I can with that fami-ly and also
6 to let them feel comfortable to ask me questions. I rm

1 going to get information from them as well, which I did

d that very first day. They tol-d me about her medical
9 conditions, about her being Hepatitis C positj-ve. At
10 the timer we didn't know that, which was very important
11 for us to be abl-e to tell our Corporal Lovelady because
T2 he had been bitten by Kel1i. He could potentially be
13 infected with Hepatitis C. So it was important for us
I4 to know that immediately for him to get seen at the
15 hospital-.
L6 O. You were later abl-e to confirm that through
71 receiving and securing medical records
18 A. Correct.
I9 O. but at the time of you transitioning from
20 getting here, doing your wal-k-thrus/ and securing and
2I collecting information, that was the first time that
22 you had been tol-d or had knowledge that there was some

z3 inherent medical issues that you were abl-e to

24 corroborate at a later time?
25 A. Yes. I knew at the scene T was given all
 45

t her medical records at the jail and copies of all her

2 prescriptions of what she was given. Through those, I
3 could tell- that there was a lot of medj-cal issues going
4 on with Kelli before going and talking to the family.
5 It wasnrt until I talked to the family that I real-i zed
6 the extent of what actually some of those medical-
1 r_ ssues were .

8 O. In following your contact with the family,

9 Adam, what was your next step in the course of your
10 investigation?
11 A. After building rapport and gathering
I2 information with the family, I informed them that they
13 would be conducting an autopsy, which they highly
74 encouraged. They wanted an autopsy done. They knew
15 that that woul-d prove how Kelli had died because of her
I6 medical issues. I let them know that f fm going to be
I1 going to the autopsy tomorrow. Hey, your l-oved one is
1B not going to be al-one. If m going to be with her
I9 tomorrow. As soon as I get done, I'm going to drj-ve
20 back from Dallas. I fm going to come talk to you and
2I tell about what the preliminary findings are. I tell-
22 them, even if there are surprises or things that we

23 didn't know, I'm going to share it with them

24 O. Were you able to then travel up to Dall-as to
25 the Southwest fnstitute of Forensic Science that next
 46

1 morning?
2 A. Yes, sir, I did.
3 a. You were present and there while the autopsy
4 was performed?
5 A. Yes, sir, I was.
6 O. And following your trip up to Dallas/ did you
7 come back then and disclose, at least to the degree
B that you coul-d, the initial findings of the autopsy to
9 the family?
10 A. Yes, si-r, I did.
11 Q. Now, initial autopsy is not it's just that,
I2 it's an initial autopsy because toxicology and other
13 tests have to be performed on other things. So at that
T4 point, vou dj-dn't have a complete autopsy, correct?

15 A. Not a written report. The autopsy had been

L6 completed, but there is still microscopic findings that
11 need to be sent out. There's still a toxicology that
1B needed to be read. At this pointr we pretty much knew
1,9 every key instant of interest in the autopsy was talked
20 to me by the doctor and shown to fler and whil-e f was

2I there, he explained medi-cal terms to me that I could

22 understand.
23 O. And in conjunction with that, Ranger, did you
24 also then display or allow him to watch the video that
25 you had i-n your custody at that time, the video from
 41

1 the jail cell?

z A. So the way autopsies mostly work is once one
3 is ordered by the Judge, the Judge usually gives SWIFS

4 the investigating officer's phone number. SWIFS you

5 get in the course of the investigation, and the last
6 thing f remember to do is call the medical- examiner to
7 qive them a brief summary of what type of case they are
8 going to be looking at. So they called me, and I let
9 them know, Hey, I had use of, force incident at a jail.
10 You give them a synopsis. I mentioned that it was on
11 video. Thq person on video (sic) wrote that down and
I2 requested that the video be brought to SWIFS. I said,
13 Sure, not a problem. So the next morning/ once I
I4 arrived there at B:00 in the morni-ng, the first thing
15 we did was watch the video before the autopsy had taken
T6 pIace.
I7 O. Now, following the autopsy and following your
18 opportunity to engage and visit with the family about
I9 the findings, your investigation wasnft over; is that
20 right ?
2I A. No, not at all.
O. In terms of still had more information and
you
23 more evidence to coll-ect; is that right?
24 A. We still had not received the medical- records
25 that we had subpoenaed. I had been asked by the
 4B

1 family from the extended family, not the immediate

2 family, that they were under the impression that she
was in poor medical health, and she shoul-d have been
4 seen more by a doctor. I told them, Look, I will
6 request medical records from the day that she was put
6 into jail, May 6, I bel-j-eve, all the way till October
7 10th or October 8th when this incident happened.
I I rm going to ask for all that time period every time
9 she was seen by a doctor. That wil-l give us a good
10 history.
11 O. you are talking about additional medical
When
12 records to subpoena, while she was in jail, she had
13 hea]th issues that required the sheriff's department to
I4 transport her up to Coryell Memori-al- Hospital; is that
15 correct ?

I6 l That is correct.
1,1 O. At somepoint, you were able to get that
1B subpoena issued and then get that informatj-on returned
1,9 for your evaluation?
20 A. Yes, sir.
21, O. Was there anything about that information,
22 Ranger, in conjunction with your investigation, that
ZJ was i-mportant for you as an investigator in conjunction
24 with your investigation?
25 A. Yes. When f came to the autopsy, one of the
 49

1 biggest findings that I saw, and this is just as a lay

2 person, I' m not a medical doctor, but f rve been to l-ots
3 of autopsi-es, but when Ke1ly's heart was examined, the
4 first thing I thought to myself was, man, that thing is
5 huge. He weighed it, and he said it was 610 grams. I
6 asked him what's the normal heart? He said 310 to 320.
1 It was twice the s j-ze . He said, Yes, I know. There ' s
8 a dissecti-on of the heart. When he had dissected it
9 and showed me the ventricles, my first thought was it
10 was l-ike a two barrel-
11 I canft tell hearts I've seen. But I fm
you how many
1,2 l-ike what is the signifj-cance of this. He goes into
13 medical terms, which I fm taking notes. I thought it
14 was very key of the biq question was, were there any
15 other injuries j-n my mind caused by the guards on that
I6 date that contributed to her death. Now, the autopsy
1,1 is stil-l- going on. We are having a conversation. He I s
18 definitely none of the contusions or brui-ses were
1,9 l-ethal in j uries . He said, There I s something going oD,
20 and that I s when he mentioned that he would probably
2I rule this a homicide. That I s when the big question
22 came up. When I have an investigati-on, I canrt make a
23 fult determination of that investigation untit I have
24 all the facts. We didn't have al-l- the facts. Yet he's
25 already making a determination of what to call this.
 50

1 We didn't have her previ-ous medical records . Your

2 question was, did those records bring up changes that I
3 think the doctor would have needed in order to make the
4 conclusion that he did on the initial autopsy report,
5 which were her heart val-ve j-ssue, also the fact that
6 she was diagnosed with COPD, a whole bunch of the other
7 stuff dealing with the heart. It seemed l-ike that
B was there were several 40 different ltems of
9 health issues, and the biggest ones were high blood
10 pressure, the history of it, and then the other heart
11 issues that were noted on those medical- records.
I2 O. Now, certainly understanding her medical-
13 condltion is an j-mportant key element of your
I4 investigatj-on, but more importantly, is it fair to sdy,
15 Ranger, that probably more important in paramount with
I6 your investigation is the use of force issue?
t7 A. Correct.
18 o. Is that fair to say?
I9 A. Yes, sir.
20 a. And for purposes of this hearing and this
21 Inquest, it's certainly a vital- component of the death
22 of Kelli Page ?

23 A. Yes, sir.
24 0. Number I, the use of force, the nature of that
)q force, and eventually was that use of force consi-stent
 51-

1 and appropriate with the nature of compliance that was

2 sought to be obtained by the jailers. Is that fair to

3 q r rz?

4 A. Thatfs fair to say.

5 O. Let's start then with the fact that there was

6 use of force used in the jail cell with Ms. Page,

1 correct ?

8 A Yes, s1r.
9 And I know that the Court will have an
10 opportunity to revi-ew the video at some point, but what
11 Ifd like to do with your Ranger, is just talk to you

t2 about the video and what it i-Ilustrates for you an

t3 terms of the events inside the cell in relation to use
74 of force. So to begin I want to ask you, where was
15 Kelli at in the jail in relation to her cel-l? What
I6 kind of cel-l was she in?
I1 A. She was in segregation. She had been
1B separated from the rest of the population.
19 O. What was the basis of the segregation?
ZU A. Initially, I was tofd it was due to her
21 cheeking her medication and taking large doses of that
22 medication. That investigation actually started before
23 she was put in segregation, and that was for
24 destruction of property. She had written graffiti on
)q the inside of the jai1, I believe on September 29Lh is
 52

1 when it started, and it ended October Bth.

2 O. What is cheeking?
3 A. Cheeking is when you are given medication.
4 You put it in your mouth. You hide it in your mouth.
5 You act like you are drinking water. When they wal-k
6 away/ it's like a squirrel, I mean, you take it, and
1 you hide it. You wait until you get a lot of them.
U With her addiction and past drug use, you take a lot of
9 them at once, and a lot of her medication were
10 vasodilators, whi-ch act like an amphetamine. She woul-d
11 get high in jaif.
L2 O. Now, to be fair, the autopsy results in
13 relation to the toxicology, it represents that at that
I4 time the level of narcotics in her system were at or
15 below normal- usage.
1"6 A. Correct. She was taking prescribed amount of
I1 her medicat j-on at that point.
1B O. So the cheeking or the diversion of it was in
1,9 September, but by October the Bth, at least so far as
20 the autopsy woul-d reflect, that activity was no longer
21, ongoing?
22 A. That is correct.
23 O. And so based on those activities by Kell-i in
24 the jai1, she was put into separation or segregation?
25 A. Yes.
 53

I O. Now, if you could, in terms of what you

2 observed on the video and in conjunction with what the
3 jailers represented in their statement, Ranger, how did
4 this engagement start?
5 A. Initially it starts early in the morning. I
6 think Kelli wakes up shortly after 7:00 o'cl-ock/ gioes

1 through her personal stuff, looks in the mirror,

B brushes her hair. At some point, she has a hair brush,
9 and she starts tapping on the glass. Nobody is
10 responding. Nobody is coming up to her. She starts
11 banging on the door with her hip, like she's trying to
I2 get out or trying to get someone's attention. Then
13 this continues for several- minutes. There I s short
I4 pauses where she bangs on the glass. Sometj-mes she
15 uses her fists. Sometimes she's tapping on the glass
15 with a brush like this, other times therefs a stabbing
71 motion. You can tell there's more force being put
18 behind it. Fi-nally, you do see a guard come to the
79 window. There is an interaction. We canrt tell what
20 is being sai-d, but Kelli seems to walk away and pauses
21 from tapping.
22 A1I of a sudden the tapping starts agar-n
23 and then goes to banging. Then she's you can tel I
.A therers an agitation. Another guard comes to her and
25 talks to her again. At this point, it's like a 10
 54

1 minute conversation. From reading the guards'

2 statements and correlating it to the video, this is
3 probably the time they sdy, Hey, if you donrt stop
4 banging on the windowsr we are going to have to
5 restrain Your and put you in a restrai-nt chair so you
6 can't bang on the windows.
1 You have to take into considerati-on the
8 jail and what its purpose is on the insj-de, thatrs the
9 security and safety for everyone in there, not just the
10 inmates but also the ;ailers. You have three jailers
11 on duty with up to 100 people plus on a daily basis
T2 going in and out of that j ail . You have one person j-n
13 the control room, one floor supervisor, and one jail
1,4 assistant. So you have two people that can wal-k freely
15 among the hal-ls and attend to the needs of a hundred
1,6 plus people, which includes feeding them, getting them
71 their maiI, getting them their medication, which is
1B helped out also by the nurse who is on staff. So there
I9 needs to be
20 O. Let me stop you there. In terms of the
2I knocking on the door, the agitation, as you described
22 it, were you abl-e to get any other information from any
23 other individual-s in the j ail as it related to how that
24 was affecting them?
25 A. Yes. I took a witness statement from one of
 55

1 the inmates who did come forward. Most people in jail

2 don't necessarily like to talk to the police. This one
3 came forward and gave a voluntary statement. One of
4 the questions I had in that the family had discussed
5 wit.tr me that I wanted to answer/ was Kelli in medical
6 distress, and was she trying to get someone's attention
1 to help her. This inmate came forward and said, She

B was wanting her commj-ssary privileges back, and that's

9 what she was asking for, and she kept tapping and
10 banging on the window, and it was really unnerving is
1_1 how he described it.
1,2 O. For an investigator, in this capacity and i-n a
13 unique setting inside the jai1, in conjunction with
I4 what you just described, havi-ng these three jailers and
15 nurse having to meet the needs of all- these inmates,
I6 what does agitation and how can that affect the
T1 environment or the attitude within the jai1, not ;ust
18 with the j ailers but in its entirety?
1.9 A. Itrs a lot like if you have one agj-tator in a

20 protest and they get louder, and they get more

27 boisterous, then all of a sudden you see somethj-ng pop
1../. up over here, next thing you know you have a rj-ot. In
23 a jaif, you have a fully it's an encapsulated
24 envi-ronment. It could become volatile at any point.
25 So if you have an agitator, j-t's best one, she's
 56

1 already been isolated from population. But being

2 inside and the banging, it now goes from this person to
this cell-, to that cell-, next thing you know it gets to
4 the big housing rooms where you have 20, 30 people.
5 All they want j-s peace and quiet or they want their
6 food served, but they can't get their food served
1 because the guards have to continually go back and
X address Kelly's issue. Theyrve got to get breakfast to
9 al1 these other people. It goes agalnst the order and
10 security and discipline of the whole dynamic inside the
11 jail.
1.2 O. To that degree, Adam, based on what you were
13 able to observe on the video, was the guards' responses
L4 to that dynamic that Kelli was creatirg, was that
15 appropriate in terms of them coming to the door and
T6 trying to verbally discuss with her the dynamj-c rel-ated
I1 to her hitting on the door or causing the disruption?
18 Was that appropriate in terms, dt least initially, with
I9 what their engagement with Kell-i was about?
20 A. f was surprised at how much tj-me they spent
21 with her, how many chances they gave her. Accordi-ng to
22 the witness statement, again the same witness
23 statement, al-l- the interactions with the guards was a

24 cordial interaction. They were basically begging her

25 to quit.
 57

1 tt They didn't reach complj-ance with that/ did

2 they?
3 A No.
4 O the next opportunity you were able to
What was
tr
J observe on the video in relation to their i-nteraction
6 with Kelli?
7 A. You canf t keep d.rawing the lines in the sand.
8 There has to be a point where you're going to have to
9 either try to gain compliance, and there's several
10 different ways to do that. The way force of continuum
11 is being taught now, where it was an all linear type of
L2 I mean, thi,s step if they are doing this, itf s this
13 step. If they donft comply there, then you go to this
L4 step and this step and this step. It's not a linear,
15 it's a circular use of force of continuum. You have
I6 the totality of the circumstances, and at any ti-me,
L1 depending on what actj-on the suspect takes or the
1B inmate takes, I can I have the choice to go from
I9 verbal to chemical- to hands on to empty hand strikes,
20 depending on what else is going on that dynamic in

21, therer up to l-ethal- force.

22 O. So as the morning progresses with attempting

z5 to gain compliance with Ms. Page, what were you able to
24 see an terms of what was their next step? What did the
25 video represent in terms of what they were doing with
 5B

1 her in the cel-l- to gain compliance?

2 A. They gave her one more chance. You can see
3 Corporal Lovelady come to the window. You donrt know

4 what he's saying, but you can see the reacti-on of

5 Kelli. It's a physical, she shakes her head side to
6 side signaling no. So whatever they asked her, which,
7 according to the voluntary witness statement they gave,
B is they asked her to go to the back of the jail, to
9 turn around and put her hands behind her back, she was
10 going to be restrained in the restraint chair. At that
11 point, she shook her head no.
T2 Corporal Lovelady then introduced the
13 chemical agent through the food door. Itrs a small
I4 door that flips down that they can pass food trays
15 through. He sprays upward angle in order to try to hit
L6 her in the face with it so that she would comply from
I1 the pain of the burning. To go back, as soon as she
18 the intentj-on was to get her to comply and then
I9 handcuff her and then go decontaminate her and put her
20 in the restraining chair.
2I Unfortunately, Kel-l-j- still had a brush in
22 her hand. As the guards the guards I bel-ieve
23 Lovelady had Pelfrey in the back. They are waiting to
24 make entry into the cell-. Kelli moves to the back of
25 the cell. You can see her with the brush. She takes
 59

1 an offense of posture/ one to where she's either going

2 to attack or be more stable when they come in. She

3 turns and l-ooks as if she's looking for the guards, and

4 the way she's holding the brush
5 O. In what way was she holding the brush, Ranger?
6 A. She was holding it
across her be1ly and had
1 her shoufders ablated to the jailers as they are coming
B in. She's looking over her shoulder, l-ike she woul-d
9 take an opportunity to either hit them with the brush
10 or try to stab them with the brush, something to that
11 effect. That's the way I read the body fanguage.
T2 I bel-j-eve Lovelady reacted appropriately
13 because she had something in her hand. Instead of
I4 approaching her right away and trying to put handcuffs
15 on her, he tried to get her to drop the brush. He

I6 applied two to three more bursts of the chemical agent.

T1 Kelli kept turning her head from si-de to side.
18 Lovelady woul-d come from one side, and she would turn
L9 the other way and vice versa.
20 O. Did she use any other object to try to prevent
2I that ?

22 Yes. At that point, Loveladyr s pepper sprayed

23 emptied. He didn't have any more. As he turns to get
24 the pepper spray to Pelfrey is when Kelli bends down to
25 pick up a towel- or a blanket that I s laying on the
 60

1 l-oor. She goes to put it over her head in order to

f
2 further resist being sprayed by the pepper spray so it
3 canft take effect.
4 There's a distinct part in the videor ds
5 soon as Lovelady turns around, be caus e hets not paying
6 attention at this point, he's looking away. When he
1 turns around, I think thatrs the first time he actual 1y
I sees the brush. Itrs up at a straight ang1e, but he
9 perce j-ves that as an immediate threat. He goes for the
10 brush. His eyes are locked on the brush. He then
11 wraps up her arm and takes her to the ground in an

I2 attempt to take the brush away and then restrain her.

13 O. How did he take her to the ground?
I4 A. It I s a common mover dhy time you are using
15 edge weapons, fighting or defense against one another,
L6 you go for the arm. He wraps up the arm. It's a

I1 conimon move, you wrap it up, and then you straj-ghten

1B the arm, and then you can use their joint manipulation
19 as a way to control the subject and one of the coilrmon

20 ways is to take them to the ground.

21 O. In what way did they go to the ground?
22 A. Kind of face first, one arm down. She goes to
z3 the ground. He's kind of on top of her. Hers trying
24 to grab her other hand and then also control the hair
2q brush at the same time. Kelli does l-et go of the hair
 6L

1 brush, but reaches behind her back and then takes the
z handcuffs that were on the j ailer's bel-t around his
3 gror_n area, takes the handcuffs away. You can
4 clearly see it on the video. Then she
5 o. Did she take the handcuffs away in conjuncti-on
6 with falling or after
1 A. It was after they fel-l-. She was 3slivslrz
o resisting at that point.
9 O. Where was Lovelady at i-n relation to her body
10 when they are on the ground?
11 A. To her side, from what I remember, on her
I2 right side.
13 O. At the beginning
1,4 A. He was straddllng part of her feg at the
15 beginning because he was over her, al-most on top of
T6 each other.
1,1 O. And there was a struqgle with the handcuffs,
1B as you said?
I9 A Yeah.
20 O. In what manner did she take and keep the
2I handcuffs ?

22 A. She took the handcuffs and brought them

ZJ underneath her stomach. You can't see this on video,
24 but I know this is how she had the handcuffs because of
25 how hard the jailers are pulling on her arms. She was
 62

1 laying on her stomach with her hands holding the

2 handcuf f s l-ike this. There I s two big guys. They are
J not little. They are pulling on her elbows trying to
4 get them out, and they canrt.
5 O. What happens next?
6 A. At that point, Lovelady is using the
7 distraction technique by applying knee strikes to the
B upper thiqh and to the side of Kell-i. Therers arterles
9 and nerves in that area everybody has been charley
10 horsed in school, and those are the types of areas you
11 want to hit, soft points.
Actually on the vi-deo, you
I2 can see her whole body very very tense and constricted
13 Her butt cheeks are clinched together. That tells me
I4 that she's actively resj-sting. They are trying to turn
15 her over, and she t s spreading her feet to where they

1,6 cantt turn her over. Shers fighting them. She's

71 actively flghting them at that point. So he applies
18 two knee strikes. You can see her go a little bit
19 soft. That I s the point that they are able to turn her
20 over onto her l-eft side.

2I At that point, they are stiIl fighting

22 her with the handcuffs. You can see her actually

23 re-grab the hair brush. Lovelady goes to use his lapel

24 mic, his lape1 mic on his left shoulder. He turns his
tq head away, and as he has his head turned, she re-grabs
 63

1 the hairbrush. That lets me know that she is going to

2 want to fiqht with weapons. Once the hair brush was

3 taken away, why would you want it again, rf that's what

4 was supposed to be taken away from you, and she still
5 had the jaifer's handcuffs, which the handcuffs can be
6 used as deadly weapons at that point.
O. Now, in conjunction with that contj-nued
I struggle to gain compliance on the ground with the
9 nature of the handcuffs stil-lbeing in her control-, her
10 reaching for the brush, what do you observe the jailers
11 do then to try to continue to gai-n compliance?
I2 A. In response to the handcuffs being taken away
13 and seei-ng the brush, Corporal Lovelady responds by
)

1,4 striking Kelli in the face with a closed fist. It I s a

15 glancing blow from what I would call a glancing

76 blow. It was one time. They roll- over, and he was

t1 able to get the brush away at that point. They are

1B still wrestling. At this point,
she's on her back.
I9 She kicks Lovelady in the groin. At some point j-n the
20 video, she bites his right hand, and there's a very
21, distinct during the bite, there was I know

22 there's a part where she grabs Corporal Lovelady by the

23 groj-n. I can articulate it on the video at this
24 certain point when Corporal Lovelady's knees come
25 together, and his bottom pulls back. At the same time,
 64

1 you can see Kellyrs body being pulled towards him, and
2 her hand is in that general locati-on. You can only see
3 the back view of it. But Lovelady responds again by
4 striking her in the face at that point, still -- which
5 empty hand strj-kes to the face is a coflrmon way to
6 distract someone. After he did it the second time,
7 Kelli is kind of knocked back, and he is on top of her.
B You can see him raising his fist as if f rm going to hit
9 you again, stop what you are doing. He stops. He
10 restrains himself from hitting her. There was a
11 response to everything that Kel1i was doing for why he
I2 applied a cl-osed fist strike to Kelli Kellyr s face
13 or to her head.
I4 A. How many closed fist strike
15 A. Three.
I6 O. There were three strikes?
t1 A. Yeah.
18 a. fn your traj-ning and experience, Rang'er, I
1,9 think you were just articulating this before I cut you
20 off , those strikes were consistent with respondj-ng to
2I an environment that was being presented to the j ailer
22 for which he needed to respond to attempt to either
23 prevent a further assault or to gain that compliance ?
24 A Yes.
25 O. Is there anythi-ng about was anything about
 65

1 those strikes overboard, too r or overbroad in

much

2 terms of attempting to gain compliance in your opinion?

3 A. No, sir.
4 O. Following the last we ended where he raised
5 his fist up l-ike he was going to have to execute
6 another closed fist strike. After did he not engage in
7 that, what happened with Kelli on the ground then?
B A. actively resisting and then
Kelli was still
9 went forward to bite the other ;ailer on his forearm,
10 at which point Lovelady responded. You can see her
11 open mouth going for his arm. He hits her the last
I2 time. That was the third time that he hit her in the
13 face. That seemed to be more of a stun to her because
L4 that I s what affected actually the arrest. He stopped
15 hitting her. He didn't keep hitting her. Once he felt
L6 he got compliance, he was abl-e to get her turned over.
71 There was a sheet or that towel- that she had picked up
18 was tangled up in al-l of them. He had one handcuff in
I9 one. He had to manipulate that. From the time that
20 she's rol-led over on her stomach to the time that she
2I becomes unresponsive is about 12 seconds. The

22 guards both of them in their testimonies say one

23 saysr ds they were trying to handcuff her, that she was
24 cus s j-ng and screaming at them. The other one says that
25 she was yelling at them while they are handcuffing her.
 66

L When you separate people, key words like that to see

2 how the similarity are, tell you if they've tal-ked
before or not.
4 Another key thing in their written
5 statements that l-et me know that they were telling the
6 truth is Pelfrey described that Kelli grabbed Lovelady
1 by the groin and would not let go. The percepti-on of
8 Lovelady was he fel-t like she was trying to bite him in
9 the groin. Thatrs what he wrote i-n his statement.
t_0 Obviously, something happened to the groin area. I
11 wouldn't believe that the two people would mention it
t2 at the same ti-me. But in the heat of the adrenaline
13 and everything that's going on and decisions that are
1.4 having to be made, it's a fight, therers always going
15 to be some things that they don't remember exactly the
16 way it shows.
L7 O. That was my next question to you, Ranger.
1B ft's not uncommon to have two witnesses to an event,
19 based on their perceptj-on and dynamics and adrenaline,
20 that their perception of what they see and hear,
2L there's going to be some differences?
22 A. Yes.
23 O. And sometimes thatrs just how people
24 personally articulate things as opposed to one person
25 may say one is cussi-ng and the other one is saying they
 61

I are yellirg, without specifically artj-cul-ating whether

2 there was cussing incorporated in that yelling. Was
J there anything about their two independent stories in
4 conjunction with that video that you saw that led you
5 to believe that anything about what they were sharing
6 with you was so blatantly i-nconsj-stent that there was a
1 mi-srepresentation about the events with Kell-i?
B A. No. I was actually really surprised at the
9 detail of their statements and how concise i-t was when
10 I watched the video. I think it was a very detailed

11 summary of a very traumatic and dynamic event.

72 O. Now, you articulated or testified that this

13 whole event happened about 12 seconds?
I4 A. From the time that she was turned over ti]]
15 Corporal Lovelady was mounted with hls right knee on
I6 her buttocks and his l-eft shin around the thorax area,
L1 and they are at this point, they've got the
1B handcuffs on. You can tel-l there I s a demeanor change
I9 in both of them. Okay. We are going to hold her until
20 she stops giving us a fuss before try to pick her up
we

2I and then put her in the chair because then you're just
22 going to have someone that can kick you and continue

23 al-l the other stuff. They are still- trying to gai-n a

24 certain amount of compliance from her. Even though her
25 hands are behind her back, she does not appear cal-m.
 6B

1 There are parts in there there is a very distinct

2 part where her legs do constrict, and they go in a

3 9O-degree angle behind they come up l-ike this, and

4 then they relax. I bel-i-eve that was indicatj-ve of the
5 moment that somethJ-ng inside Kelli happened, according
6 to the doctor, something with the heart.
1 O. In conjunction with her relaxing i-n that
o physical-
9 A. That let me know something happened, because
10 she totally became cal-m and still- and was not moving.
11 This was not like a prolonged suffocation l-ike you
T2 would see I | 1l give you the example of the movie, No

13 Country for Ol-d Men, the scene where the officer is

I4 strangled by the bad guy. To strangle someone or to be
15 asphyxiated I have worked a hanging death, it takes
76 three to four minutes before the body is medically
I1 dead. We have 12 seconds.
1B O. What did the officers do once she was in
I9 compliance and she was in that condition?
20 A. You can see the officers coughing a little
2I bit. Obviously there is a chemi-cal agent that had been
22 sprayed i-n the jail. They are not in the best of
23 shape. They are trying to catch their breath and
24 figure out what's going on or what the next step is.
25 That I s when they noticed that she's not moving anymore.
 69

1 From what is in their statements, they said that they

2 thought she was faking. Once we got off of her, she
3 was going to start acting up again. When she dj-dn't
4 move and they solicited a response from her by shaking
5 her, they rolled her overf saw there was a physi-caI
6 distress in her face is what was described to me. They
7 could tell she wasnf t responsi-ve. They took the
B handcuffs off and got her in a position on her back and
9 then started CPR at that point. Lovelady did.
10 O. Do you know approximately how long did they
11 say they engaged with conducting CPR?
I2 A. Off and oflr Irm not sure exactly how 1ong.
13 Lovelady did all of the CPR. Another deputy comes in
I4 takes over, and then EMS comes in and takes over. I
15 bel-ieve there I s two or three EMS personnel that
L6 switched out and continued CPR as well as with the
71 def ibrill-ator. They did all the adrenal-i-ne,
18 epinephrj-ne and the IV drip and intubated her, al-1 the
T9 steps that they cou1d, and their response tj-me was
20 there within 10 minutes. f bet they worked another 20

2I minutes on her. I donf t know the exact time, but If ve

22 got it written in my report. I would say 30 minutes
23 from the time Lovelady started till the time EMS
aA
z-a stopped.
25 O. Werve had this discussion about CPR/ Ranqer,
 10

1 the Texas Jail Commission does not require jailers to

2 be certj-fied in CPR, do they not?
3 A. No, they do not.
4 O. But in this case, was the jailers certified in
5 CPR?

6 A. Lovelady gave me a sworn statement saying he

1 was/ yes.
o O. Rea11y, what we arrive at now, Ranger, in
9 conjunction with your training and experience and use
10 of force, in relation to your observatj-ons and your
11 investigations about the nature of the engagement of
I2 use of force with Ms. Page in the jai1, is there
13 anything about the conduct of the jailers, with their
I4 personal contact with Ms. Page to gain compl j-ance / was
15 there anything about their conduct and use of force in
I6 your opinion that was criminal ?
II A. No, si-r.
1B O. Can you tell the Court why?
I9 A. One thing I like to stay away from an
20 opinion. Based on the facts that ffve gathered and
21 from reviewing the video and from training and
22 experience, I can say that there was no criminal act
invol-ved in the death of Kelli Page.
24 O. Is it because that at each step I know we

25 talked about the l-inear approach to use of force and

 11-

1 circular use of force, how woul-d you qualify these

2 j ailers' engagement of use of force? In those two
3 different spectrums and philosophies, in other words,
4 how would you describe what type they engaged?
J
tr
A. I would say it was a really linear approach,
6 the way it was taught in the old ways. I mean, you go
1 from the psychological intimidati-on factor with being
8 j-n uniform and being in physical presence therer vou go
9 into the verbal part where you are asking a person to
10 not do something or there's going to be consequences.
11 You kind of look at it to simplify it let's
12 simplify it. If you are doing somethlng in your room
13 as a kid that you're not supposed to do, and next thing
I4 you look over your shoulder, and mom is standing with
15 her hands on her hip. There's a certain feeling inside
I6 that mom is giving you that she's not happy with it.
1,1 Thatfs the psychological intimidation. The next thing
18 your mother says is, Wait till your dad gets home.
I9 There I s your verbal-, okay, j-t ' s going to happen. Then
,a when dad comes home, that's when the hands on usually
21, happens with a paddle or his hand.
22 You can look at this is what happened in
ZJ layman terms with the incident with Kelli. The

24 difference is there was physical attacks that Kelli

25 decided to do directly agai-nst the officers, actually
 .7.>

1 criminally assaulting them, biting, having the weapon

a
Z that she wouldnrt drop in her hand, the hairbrush, and
3 then actually taking the handcuffs that could have been
/
a used as a weapon against the officers, further more
tr
J r-nl urr_es .

6 0. then, Ranger, was the use of force that you

So

1 observed on the video, in conjunction with the witness

o statement, consistent with the l-aw enforcement
9 officers' duty to gain compliance for an inmate in that
10 condi-tion?
11 A sir. Yes,
I2 O. Now, as it relates to that particular error of

13 use of force, I think you've testified that it's

1,4 verbal, then they deployed chemical agent before they

15 had to go hands on
I6 A Correct.
I1 O those have you had an opportunity to
1B rev]-ew the Coryell County Sheriff 's Department policy
L9 on use of force?
20 A Yes, f have read it. It follows along the
2I lines of Chapter 9 of the Penal Code. I think it's 53
22 it might be 63 or 53. But basically it addresses
23 the use of force in a jail or a correcti-onal- facility.
24 That I s what it basically it protects the inmates,
25 the employees, and any of the visitors, one, for the
 73

1 overall security and safety of the jail.

t O. Was there anything about the conduct of the
3 jailers in engaging use of force in attempt to gain
4 compliance that you believe is outside of the Coryell
5 County policy in regards to use of force?
6 A. After reading the policy and revj-ewing it
1 against whatrs wrj-tten in the Iaw, I believe that the
8 jailers acted within polj-cy, which policy is typically
9 wri-tten and is more strict than what the l-aw use of
-LU force is. So therefore, I have come to the conclusion
1-1 that there was no criminaf act.
L2 O. Now, obviously, and I think you articulated
13 this as wel-l at the very beginning of this hearJ-ng,
I4 Ranger, this is a devastating event?
15 A. Yes, sir.
L6 O. In terms of i-nmates not only in the Coryell
t7 County jai1, but in any correctj-onal facility whether
1B it be jail or TDCJ or State Jail- facili-ties, you would
1.9 agree with me that it is a paramount i-mportance that
20 one of the first missions of any facility is to protect
2T the health and welfare of inmates?
22 A. You would I brought this up to the family,
23 you woul-d think the safest place for someone would be
24 at a hospital or a jai1. Obviously, there are more
25 people that die at a hospital than they do at a jail.
 74

1 You have 2[-hour supervision. You have jail logs that

2 people make rounds and make observations. They are
3 being watched all the time. You woul_d think it woul_d

4 bea safe pIace.

5 O Is there anything else, Ranger, that you wish
.
6 to address to the Judge for this fnquest that you woul-d
1 think would be of i-mportance for consideration in him
d deciding ultimately the result of this Inquest whether
9 or not her death was a result of a criminal act? Is
10 there anything else we haven't di scus sed?

11 A. I think we have detailed and highlighted all

I2 the key points.
13 MR. BOYD: Your Honor, dt this time, I'm
L4 going to of fer what I s State's 2. This i-s the actual
15 video for which the Ranger has articul-ated about.
I6 THE COURT: I'l-1 take this and view it i_n

I1 my chambers.
1B MR. BOYD: I have no further questions of
I9 the Ranger, Your Honor.
)a THE COURT: Ifve got one question. Of
2L course, the autopsy came back mechanical asphyxiati-on.
22 What you've seen, which I understand youfre not a

23 physi-cian, on the asphyxiation, what's your opinion on

z4 that ?
25 THE WITNESS: From my training and
 15

1 experj-ence and what f have been exposed to in the past

2 and how we in law enforcement have changed certain
3 restraint methods, there is a type of mechanical
4 asphyxiation that could happen and has been, I think,
5 correctly diagnosed. That was normally in the hog tie
6 method j-n two different ways; one, when you have an
1 extreme bending episode where someone has to bend over
B for an extended period of time, and then they are
9 handcuffed to their feet, that's a form of hog tying so
10 they are sitting down, and they are handcuffed to their
r^^!
11

1,2 The other method is when they are

13 handcuffed behind their back, and then their legs were
I4 tied up behind their back, that's typically called the
15 hog tie, and then placed prone in a patrol car. By the
T6 tj-me they get to the jai1, all of a sudden, this guy is
11 unrespons j-ve. Those methods are out. In fact, they
1B are written in his j aif policy to never have been used,
1,9 and no other person is allowed to bring personal-
20 restraints into the j ail and use personal restraints.
27 Only jail-issued restraints are to be used.
22 When it comes to the prone position, that
23 is the most common and safest one of the most
24 safest, not the safest, ways to handcuff someone. The
25 reason you do in the prone position is because once you
 76

1 are on the ground, you are taking away a lot of the

t force that could be generated if someone was standing,
3 and you're going toe to toe with one another.
4 Another thing you are taking out of the
5 fight is their 1egs. If they have rolled over on their
6 back, they can do what they call- a donkey kick, but
7 they can't kick at you. They can try to push off.
B Another thing that is helping you is the earth. That I s
9 your biggest force right there. Another thing it does
10 is conserves energy of the officer in the scuffle. It
11 keeps the inmate safer. If you are standing up going
t2 toe to toe and say there is a strike that is hit, you
13 have to knock the person out, next thing you know, you
L4 have an j-nmate thatf s f,allen and hit their head. You

15 have other lnjuries that develop.

16 From research that was done, f know of
I1 like 2.5 mil-lion police encounters, 25 resulted during
18 sudden death restraint, and none of them none of
L9 those deaths were attributed to t.he prone positi-on.
20 The one that did die that was in position of restraint
2I was ei-ther on their back or on their side. I don't
22 believe I know, from watching that vj-deo, something
23 happened inside Kel-Ii. I do not believe, from my

24 training and experj-ence, it was from asphyxiation or

25 how I understand asphyxlati-on.
 I THE COURT: That I s my biggest question
2 about that particular point is the asphyxiation.
3 MR. BOYD: Judge, in relation to his
4 response, the Ranger is relying on the Journal of
5 Forensi-c and Legal Medicine, Volume 3L, April 201,5,

6 pages 29 through 35, "Restrai-nt in police use of force

'7
events: Examining sudden in custody death for prone
B and non-prone positions. " That I s the study for which
9 he's relying upon that information.
10 THE COURT: Her I know through the
11 struggle they was all very exhausted.
I2 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
13 THE COURT: Very stressed?
L4 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
15 THE COURT: Okay. I donft have nothing
16 further.
I] MR. BOYD: No further questions. May he
1B be excused, Your Honor?
I9 THE COURT: Yes, you can be excused.
20 MR. BOYD: Judge, subj ect to any other
2T requests of the Court, the State has no further
22 evidence or wi-tnesses to provide to the Court. Again,
23 obvj-ously, sub j ect to any other further information,
24 the Court may ask for us to consider for your
tq information. At this timer w€ have no further
 1B

1 information or evidence to present.

THE COURT: Al-l- right. There's lots of
I

3 testimony. It sounds like professional-testimony from

4 each one of our witnesses. Itm going to take al-l of
5 this into consideration, and I will make my final-
6 determination on rule of cause of death, the way I
7 bel-ieve it to be, and I will make my decision on al_l of
H
that.
9 As of now, thank everybody for cominq and
10 listening to the testimony wefve got. Irm going to go
11 ahead and adjourn court.
1,2

13

1,4

15

T6

I7
1B

I9
20

2I
22

23

24

25
 79

1 THE STATE OF TEXAS **

**
2 COUNTY OF CORYELL **
3 I, L. IRVIN, Official Court
TRACY
4
A
Reporter i-n and for the 440th District Court of Coryell
5 County, State of Texas, do hereby certify that the
6 above and foregoing contains a true and correct
1 transcription of al-l- porti-ons of evidence and other
B proceedings requested in writing by counsel- for the
9 parti-es to be included in this volume of the Reporterrs
10 Record, in the above-styled and numbered cause, all of

11 which occurred in open court or in chambers and were

T2 reported by me.

13 I further certify that this Reporterrs Record of

I4 the proceedings truly and correctly reflects the
15 exhibits, if any, offered by the respective parties.

I6 I further certify that the total cost for the

71 preparation of this Reporter's Record is $

ItJ and was paid/will be paid by Coryell County.

I9 WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this the 2nd day of
20 January, 2018.
2I !
RACY IRVIN, Texas CSR 41 25
22 Expires: 12-31-19
Official Court Reporter
23 440th District Court
Coryell County, Texas
)A P. O. Box 1119
Gatesville, Texas 76528
25 254-855-5911 ext. 247I