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Young Man Dies in Benton County Jail
$500,000 Awarded For Wrongful Death

Case # 05-1133
U.S. District Court of Minnesota

We are attaching to our website a case very similar to our son’s but unfortunately a year later in 2003 a young man dies in the Benton County Jail. By telling this story hopefully the public will see the blatant callousness and indifference some people, especially those in the System, as described on the front page of our website, exhibit towards people with mental illnesses. The public cannot tolerate this stigma and discrimination and must demand that changes be made as to treatment of people with these illnesses. Also those individuals who are described in this website for their involvement with this death should be held accountable for their actions and removed from their positions.

We had made complaints both in writing and over the phone (see documents) to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, The Medical Board of Minnesota, The Drug Enforcement Agency of Minnesota, Corrections of Minnesota, The Sheriff of Benton County, The Governor of Minnesota, The Attorney General’s Office of Minnesota, Area Legislators, and the Professional Lawyers Bar Association and all refused to take action. As a result nothing was changed and a senseless, horrific death occured in the Benton County Jail on June 15, 2003.

The St. Cloud Times wrote 3 articles to inform the public of the Mosher incident. (See Documents.) We did not agree with the accuracy of these articles. Here are the facts taken from the Court Complaint of what really happened to a young man with a mental illness in the Benton and Stearns County Jails. A court case, 05-1133 in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, awarded $500,000 to Ralph Mosher for the wrongful death of his son Ryan Dwight Mosher on November 22, 2005. The Plaintiff Statement of the Case describes what happened to Ryan Mosher. (See Plaintiff’s Statement of the Case, requires Acrobat Reader).

On June 17, 2003 the St. Cloud Times printed an article by David Unze, 27-year-old man dies in Benton Jail. Inmate showed no obvious signs of struggle, trauma according to Doug Brinkman, chief deputy in the Sheriff’s department. It goes on to tell the reading public what supposedly happened to Ryan Dwight Mosher . Upon reading these articles we questioned many points. First if a person drinks a poison they would show some sign of the body’s reaction to it. Therefore, “the inmate showing no obvious signs of struggle or trauma” is inaccurate. Methyl Alcohol is a colorless flamable liquid used as an anti-freeze, general solvent fuel, and denaturant for ethyl alcohol. Also called “methanol,” “wood alcohol”, “wood spirits”. Second, Jail staff found Mosher in his bed apparently asleep. We questioned this since a body would have some reaction to the poison. One does not die peacefully in their sleep after drinking a poison as described above. On September 2, 2003 Carol called the Poison Control Center about methanol and asked the personnel about the reaction a person would have if he drank this chemical. She said, “ It has very, very severe symptoms. It is not a comfortable way to go. Even a little bit is a problem.”

Third, “There was a very short period of time between when cell checks were made and when he was found not breathing- about 20 minutes”, Brinkman said. If they were doing cell checks how could they not see something was wrong with Mosher? We called the Benton County Sheriff's office to obtain the address of Ralph Mosher and we were given an old address, an address where Mr. Ralph Mosher had not lived for a year. We sent Ralph Mosher a letter noting these dicrepancies along with the first article from the St. Cloud Times. Somehow the letter made it to Ralph Mosher. Carol received a call from Gary Mosher, Ryan’s brother. He said they had received our letter. He stated the family had received from Robert Raupp,the Benton County Attorney, the medical records from the Benton County Jail. Gary had gone into detail of what happened to Ryan during the last 2 days of Ryan’s life at the Benton County Jail.

Another article appeared in the St. Cloud Times by David Unze stating, Preliminary autopsy results don’t identify a cause of death for a St. Cloud man who died in Benton County Jail. We questioned again the drinking of Splash and the effects it would have on a person who drank it. It also states that Ryan Mosher was in a special management area of the jail. In paragraph 11 of the Plaintiff’s Complaint it states “While at the Benton County Jail, during the general processing and assessment, the Benton County Medical Staff noted Ryan Mosher’s prior suicide attempt, his diagnosed depression and Bi-Polar Syndrome, and psychotropic medications. Being this was the case, why did they put a toxic substance into the hands of an inmate who was clearly at risk of suicide? The article states, an officer checked on Mosher about 20 minutes before he was found unresponsive, Brinkman said. If that was the case, why couldn’t he see that the poison was killing Ryan? There were no signs of a struggle in Mosher’s cell and the autopsy in Ramsey County revealed no obvious trauma or health problems that could have caused his death. It goes without saying that if a person drinks “wood alcohol” there would be some signs of physical trauma. “There are no known reasons why (he died)”, Sheriff Jim McMahon said. Isn’t it the responsibility of the sheriff to know what goes on inside his jail? The second half of the article seems to inform the public of what kind of a person Ryan was. Are we supposed to get the impression that Ryan deserved his fate?

The final article in the St. Cloud Times by Kelly Scott states, Glass cleaner killed inmate, Autopsy: Man drank Splash 4-5 hours before he died. The article goes on to say, The report, and a separate investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, determined the death to be accidental. The cause of death was acute methanol intoxication, McMahon said. Containers of cleaners are kept in locked areas, McMahon said. Staff supervises inmates when they receive, return and use the cleaners, he said. If the jail staff had given Ryan Splash to clean his cell why didn’t they notice how much of the contents of the bottle was used? Why didn’t they see him drink it when in paragraph 16 of the complaint it is stated that, “During the afternoon of June 14, 2003, other inmates observed Ryan Mosher not speaking well and weaving while he walked. He was observed having a cup of pink liquid. Other inmates were aware that Ryan was having trouble with his vision, had been vomiting, and had been drinking Splash.” If inmates could see all of this why didn’t the jail staff ? If Ryan died at 4:15am, 4 or 5 hours after drinking the Splash according to the St. Cloud Times article, we questioned why would jail staff have an inmate clean his cell at 11:00 pm or 12:00 midnight? Why didn’t they call 911 for assistance to transfer Ryan to the hospital as a precaution when consumption of a poison was suspected?

It is also disturbing to know that knowledgeable people in the community did not question what was written in the St. Cloud Times. Surely people with degrees in medicine, chemistry, biology, etc. would have questioned the accuracy of these statements.

Carol called at the end of July, 2003 Ken McDonald,the agent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension who was investigating this case to talk to him about how our situation (as mentioned here on our website) and the Ryan Mosher case were very similar. In each case, Carol told McDonald both men were mentally ill, both were in the Benton County Jail, and both were on many medications. It was to bring to his attention that this was not the first time questions regarding treatment of inmates with mental illnesses have been brought up in the Benton County Jail.

Carol called Joe Capello from the Drug Enforcement Agency a week later on August 5, 2003 because Ken McDonald had said the case was handed over to the Drug Enforcement Agency as well. When asked of Joe Capello why the Medical Board of Minnesota did not do anything about our complaint against Drs. Clifford and Kevin Stiles and not tell us why, he said, “The rights of privacy are protected by state law. All the investigational information internally is protected because a doctor has the rights to privacy. DEA does not even have the right to get information because it is protected by state law. If Dr. Stiles name comes up in other instances other than your own, it tells me that Dr. Stiles may be part of the issue. The Medical Board ought to look at it again.”

From the court records available to the public, U.S. District Court case 05-1133, one can see that the complaint lays out what a horrific, painful, and long drawn out suffering that Ryan Mosher endured. The information that was released to the public after Ryan died we believe was a cover-up over what really happened. His suicide could have been prevented and even after Ryan drank the Splash he could have survived if immediate and proper action would have been taken. At 6:00pm Ryan reported being sick and that he was blind. Paragraph 20 of the complaint states that Ryan was asked his name, he did not respond. He was asked if he was feeling better, he did not respond. Sgt. Mastey checking Ryan’s pupils with a Maglight flashlight observed that Ryan’s pupils gave no response, his eyes did not blink, nor was there any dilation of his pupils.

According to the complaint, paragraph 25, at 4:15am Sgt. Gleason was informed by the a detention officer that Ryan Mosher did not appear to be breathing. He was lying on his stomach and had a bluish tint around his mouth and eyes partially open. When Sgt. Gleason shoved Ryan and rubbed his sternum, there was no reaction. Ryan had no pulse. She then informed the Benton County Jail Administrator and the Stearns County Jail Supervisor, Sgt. Gacke that Ryan was receiving CPR, and de-fibrillator shocks and things did not look good for him.Why would staff wait until Ryan was obviously dead to do emergency procedures?

Dr. Clifford Stiles did not come to see Ryan after calls from jail staff for directions on what to do. Dr. Clifford Stiles told staff just to watch him and call him in the morning. As per the complaint Dr. Clifford Stiles never saw Ryan Mosher until he came to pronounce him dead.

In paragraph 22 of the complaint states that Benton County staff, Sgt. Lynn Gleason called Lt. Susan Johnson , Benton County Jail Administrator and was told if Ryan continued to exhibit problems that Gleason should call Stearns County and request that they come and pick up Ryan Mosher. How did they expect to transport Ryan when he was near death? At that point Ryan was nearly dead. What miracle did Benton County staff expect to happen if he was transported to Stearns County Jail? After all the talk from law enforcement about citizens to call 911 in an emergency, why didn’t Benton County jail staff take the initiative to call for an ambulance themselves long before he died.
Ryan Mosher was already sick in the early morning hours on Saturday, June 14. Ryan was pronounced dead at 4:30 am on Sunday, June 15. Ryan died from Acute Methanol Intoxication as a result from drinking Splash de-icer and window cleaner. This was somewhere around 24 hours of painful suffering . The Times article also states that inmate showed no signs of struggle or trauma. In paragraph 24 of the complaint it states he was found on the floor in a fetal position moaning with his eyes wide open. Vomit was observed in the sink and toilet. He was lifted onto his bed and they tilted his head so he would not drown in his own vomit. Does this sound like Ryan died without any struggle or trauma?

If a citizen would drive by an accident along side a road and not offer assistance to a motorist that was dying in the ditch that citizen could be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for not helping.Why are these people who are supposed to uphold the law able to stand by and watch an inmate, under their supervision, slowly die and not do anything to save his life? Why are these people not prosecuted for their inactions the same as any other citizen would be? A $500,000 judgement for the plaintiff is hardly enough for the pain and the suffering for losing a son not to mention the pain and the suffering that Ryan Mosher went through at the Benton County Jail.

It is too often said by law enforcement that “They just want to go home to their families.” While they all were able to enjoy the holidays with their families Ralph Mosher and his other two sons saw an empty chair.

In paragraph 9 it states that while at Stearns County Jail Ryan was not given mental health services. This is often typical of people with mental illnesses in jails and prisons. The complaint charges that the defendants acted with deliberate indifference to the needs and rights of Ryan Mosher, so that their actions or inactions caused and resulted in the death of Ryan Mosher. When asked by Ralph Mosher if Ryan had suffered prior to his death Dr. Clifford Stiles informed him “I don’t know I never drank it.” Also when Ralph Mosher asked Sheriff McMahon how it could have happened he stated, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” How callous and indifferent is that?

It is without a doubt that people with mental illnesses are treated this way by many law enforcement, medical staff, and criminal justice personnel putting them at high risk while being incarcerated.

As a result of us speaking out against this type of injustice we have received more negative e-mails. The website Real Police reinforces our comments that some law enforcement personnel often have a negative attitude towards the people with mental illnesses and their families. The way they respond to calls makes a difference between people being killed, jailed, or helped. It is a real shame that these law enforcement personnel have to hide behind a wall of fake e-mail addresses and not sign their names. If a person calls 911 in a crisis situation you may be fortunate to get an understanding and knowledgeable officer to respond. However, if an officer with this type of attitude shown in these e-mails and on this web chat line responds the situation could very well end in disaster. (See e-mails and Real Police Website chat line).

There definitely needs to be mandatory training in every police and criminal justice department in how to respond to mental health issues. Hospitals need to treat people with mental illnesses instead of often turning them away from the emergency rooms. Stigma and Discrimination against the mentally ill and their families by society ,as a whole, needs to stop. Otherwise these problems will only get worse as the number of people diagnosed with mental illnesses increases.

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