‘SCANDALOUS’

Defense Response to Lawsuit Alleging Man Froze to Death in Alabama Jail: ‘Nothing But Speculation’

The defense team called the suit alleging an incarcerated man froze to death “nothing but speculation.”

After a February lawsuit alleged that a man had “likely” died after being locked in the freezer of an Alabama jail, defense attorneys for the Walker County Sheriff’s Office are calling the claims “scandalous” and “based on nothing but speculation,” according to AL.com. The prosecution alleges that 33-year-old Anthony Mitchell was likely “placed in a restraint chair in the jail kitchen’s walk-in freezer or similar frigid environment and left there for hours,” by jail officials, claiming this led to his Jan. 26 death. The defense struck back Friday, according to AL.com, writing, “He was not held in a freezer. In fact, the only times that he left the booking area was to attend his 72-hour hearing and to be transported to the hospital.” The Walker County coroner has yet to finalize a cause of death.