Positional Asphyxiation Archives

Excessive force cause of death in Pittsburgh case

Dr. Wecht recommended that homicide charges be filed in the case of a Pennsylvania man who died in December after being restrained by police officers during a party near Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports.

The incident occured in Dr. Wecht's own Allegheny County, where he serves as Coroner. The victim, Charles A. Dixon of Altoona, Pa., was being restrained for interfering with the arrest of his brother who was being arrested for, of all things, sticking his hand in a spaghetti bowl on a buffet table.

Dr. Wecht drew comparisons between the cause of death in Dixon's case and the Jonny Gammage case from 1995. He concluded Dixon died from positional or mechanical asphyxiation, which occurs when pressure is applied to the back of a person in a prone position.

Moreover, according to the paper, Dr. said some degree of forced pressure was applied to Dixon's back to further compromise his breathing, despite contradictory claims made by several officers that no pressure was ever applied to the back of Dixon.

See Wecht: Charge police in Mount Oliver death , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

July 29, 2003 | Permalink

NEWS FEEDS

RSS 1.0
RSS 2.0
Atom

CATEGORIES

Ballistics
Beltway Sniper
Chandra Levy
Cliff Baxter
Conferences
CSI
Daniel Smith
Danielle van Dam
DNA Testing
Flight 522
Homicides
Human Remains
JFK
JonBenet Ramsey
Judicial
Katrina
Laci Peterson
Manadel al-Jamad
Media Alerts
Mortal Evidence
O.J. Simpson
Positional Asphyxiation
Speaking Engagements
Taser
Taylor Behl
Terri Shiavo
Time of Death
Tracing Evidence
Tsunami
Wecht Institute

MONTHLY ARCHIVES

September 2006
August 2006
March 2006
January 2006
December 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
April 2005
March 2005
January 2005
December 2004
October 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
March 2004
February 2004
December 2003
November 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
January 2003
October 2002
August 2002
May 2002
April 2002