Macomb exec lashes out at attorney in jail death suit

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel at a news conference today called the attorney representing the family of a jail inmate who died in custody "irresponsible" and accused him of trying to "strong arm" the county out of $25 million to $30 million to settle the matter.

The attorney, Robert Ihrie, who is representing the family of David Stojcevski in a federal lawsuit filed in March, responded that it is "a high emotion case." He said that while Hackel made a "rather aggressive statement, I certainly allow people in Mr. Hackel's position to have some leeway with respect to their opinions. However, we did our best to avoid litigation."

Hackel's accusation came out during a briefing in Mt. Clemens called by the county executive, who is a former sheriff, and current Sheriff Anthony Wickersham to discuss jail procedures.

Stojcevski, 32, had been locked up for 10 days in a mental health cell in June 2014 when he died, reportedly of withdrawal from prescription medication. Stojcevski, who was under constant video surveillance, was seen naked and lying on the floor of the cell in videos released to WDIV-TV (Channel 4).

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in March, the suffering Stojcevski endured from the withdrawal is captured on video, of which there is about 240 hours in total. The lawsuit alleges Stojcevski, who was locked up on a traffic violation, lost 50 pounds in the days leading up to his death.

Hackel said he received a text from Ihrie today in which the attorney said he had met with the county's corporation counsel before filing the lawsuit to ask if the county had any interest in resolving the case without going to litigation.

In the text, Ihrie said: "I was concerned that the case would generate substantial media attention if filed. He (the corporation counsel) advised me that the county was not interested in such a discussion. Thereafter, we filed the suit. We did not intentionally seek media attention."

"We still remain willing to talk about this case privately to see if a resolution can be reached and the matter resolved. I have no interest in embarrassing anybody. I tried to avoid that from the beginning. Perhaps it is a good idea to talk, even at this point. I trust that rational minds can come to a rational decision on this case," Ihrie wrote.

Hackel said he plans to encourage county attorneys and insurance companies not to settle the case.

Ihrie told the Free Press after the briefing that his text to Hackel was a genuine effort to reach out to him.

Ihrie said his office wrote letters to corporation counsel on July 2, 2014, and Nov. 5, 2014, saying it would welcome the opportunity to discuss the case prior to litigation. Ihrie said they received no calls to discuss the case and no money was mentioned in the letters.

Ihrie said he then met with corporation counsel and indicated the damages the family had suffered would expose the defendants to substantial damages. He said when corporation counsel asked how much, Ihrie threw out a figure of several million dollars, which he confirmed was $25 million to $30 million, and would include punitive damages.

"Of course, nobody will know what a jury will do," Ihrie said. "But I guess my point is that, three times before filing litigation to avoid litigation and avoid unnecessary media attention, we attempted to have a discussion with the county regarding a resolution, and we were not contacted to have such a discussion."

Hackel called the proposed settlement amount "outrageous." He said Ihrie "had our hands tied behind our backs."

Neither Hackel nor Wickersham said they could speak specifically about the death — which is being reviewed by the FBI — but Hackel said he finds it "difficult to believe" that Stojcevski, 32, lost 50 pounds in the time he was in the lockup and said that needs to be fact-checked. He also said mental health unit inmates are given a gown to wear and a bunk to sleep in, but workers don't force inmates to wear the gown or sleep in the bunk.

Neither official has watched the 240 hours of video. Hackel said he is upset that minutes-worth of video shown in a televised news report of the case is based on what he said is 0.021% of the entire video.

Hackel said that officers checked the welfare of Stojcevski numerous times and notified contracted medical staff, who make medical determinations — including whether someone needs to go to a hospital. He said the corrections officer who saw Stojcevski's chest stop rising was inside the cell within 30 seconds, quicker than EMS can get to someone's home, and doing CPR. He said that officer probably should be given some type of award because he tried to save Stojcevski's life.

Hackel said the county cares about the care of its inmates, many of whom have mental health and substance-abuse problems, but it is not going to be "a punching bag" in this matter.

Wickersham said he welcomes the FBI review of the case and that he turned over all the investigation documents and in-cell video.

"Please come on in. We'll give up everything we have," he said, adding the office has "nothing to hide."

Wickersham said threats and calls about his office are unwarranted.

"I don't expect an apology," the sheriff said, but added that the men and women of his office "deserve one."

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, claims the county; Correct Care Solutions, a contracted agency for medical and mental health care at the jail, and other defendants knowingly allowed Stojcevski to suffer through prescription medication withdrawal, which resulted in his death.

Correct Care Solutions was the only group to bid on the contract for medical and mental health care at the lockup. The contract expires at the end of the year, jail officials said.

Stojcevski went to the jail in June 2014 to serve a 30-day sentence for failing to appear in court on a traffic ticket for careless driving, according to the lawsuit. The last day he was alive, he was rushed to a Mt. Clemens hospital, where he died about 90 minutes later.

According to the lawsuit, his death certificate states his cause of death was “acute withdrawal from chronic benzodiazepine, methadone and opiate medications” and that the approximate interval between onset of the cause of death and death itself was weeks. The autopsy report, it states, also reflects dehydration with hypernatremia and seizure/seizure-like activity.

The lawsuit was filed by Stojcevski's brother, Vladimir Stojcevski, who was jailed at the same time, also on a charge of failure to appear on a traffic offense. It seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

Ihrie said he knows this is a difficult case for everyone involved.

"If there is a silver lining, this case — because of its visual component — is in a very good position to bring focus to the problem that the unhealthy and addicted face in our nation's jail and prison systems," he said. "It is the family's hope that their son's death may highlight the issue of properly equipping our jails and prisons, and the development of proper protocols in order to protect the constitutional rights of the sick and the addicted."

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com, @challreporter