Criminal charges will not be pursued in the 2015 death of an inmate at Fishkill Correctional Facility named Samuel Harrell.

There is not enough evidence to pursue federal or state criminal charges and the investigation has been closed, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, representing the Southern District of New York, and Dutchess County District Attorney William V. Grady.

Kim and Grady met Wednesday with Harrell’s family and their representatives to inform them of the decision, the pair said in a statement.

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“In light of the absence of video evidence, the inconsistent eyewitness accounts and the inconclusive medical evidence of excessive use of force, the Department of Justice could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any corrections officer willfully violated Mr. Harrell’s constitutional rights,” the announcement said.

A statement released by an attorney for Harrell’s family said the family was “deeply troubled” by the decision.

“The autopsy, finding the death to be a ‘homicide,’ unambiguously links Mr. Harrell’s death to the brutal actions of these officers,” read the statement by attorney Luna Droubi of the Manhattan firm, Beldock, Levine & Hoffman. "In our opinion, there was clear criminal wrongdoing by the corrections officers involved in Mr. Harrell's death. The question of criminal liability should have been brought to and decided by a jury."

Droubi’s statement said Harrell’s family is proceeding with wrongful death lawsuits pending in federal court and the state Court of Claims.

An autopsy was conducted by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office. Wednesday’s announcement from Kim and Grady said the medical examiner, while ruling that the manner of Harrell’s death was a homicide, said the cause of death was “cardiac arrhythmia due to hypertensive cardiovascular disease following physical altercation with corrections officers.”

On April 21, 2015, Harrell packed his belongings and told corrections officers he was leaving the Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, even though he had not finished his sentence, according to Kim and Grady.

A call was placed to the mental health unit. Harrell ran from his housing unit and attempted to exit the facility by running head-first into a locked exit door.

A group of corrections officers used physical force to apprehend and handcuff Harrell, who was taller than 6 feet and weighed about 240 pounds, the statement read.

Harrell and several officers were taken to the prison’s medical unit, officials said. One officer arrived on a stretcher and was later treated for bruised ribs at a hospital. Harrell was taken to St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Orange County, where he was pronounced dead

According to affidavits collected by the family's attorneys and an interview with one witness, Harrell, a Kingston resident, was beaten by corrections officers and thrown down a flight of stairs despite being handcuffed.

According to his family, the week of April 21, 2015, Harrell, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had not been given his proper medication while in solitary confinement. He reportedly received no medical attention after signs of depression and paranoia were reported by another inmate, according to the family.

The statement from Kim and Grady said, “Although there was a physical altercation with corrections officers... prosecution would require that death occurred as a result of an intentional act, a reckless act, or a criminally negligent act.”

The statement continued, “Any state law theory would require a direct causal connection between any injuries inflicted by the corrections officers and the resulting death. The uncontroverted findings of the autopsy in this case find no such connection.”

Harrell had been serving an eight-year sentence for one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance, a felony. He was convicted and sentenced in Ulster County in 2014.

Harrell entered the state prison system on May 5, 2014 and was transferred to Fishkill Correctional Facility on Jan. 29, 2015. His earliest release date was scheduled for Sept. 19, 2020.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo