Waupun prison staff Tasered man who died of dehydration, failed to give him medication, claim says

Waupun prison staff used a Taser on Donald Maier as he was moved to the solitary confinement cell where he later died naked and gasping for water, according to a recently released legal filing.

Maier, 62, received his prescribed medications only once, if at all, during his nine days in solitary, and prison staff did not once follow agency protocols for documenting a water shut-off to a person's cell, according to a notice of claim filed by Jeff Scott Olson, a civil rights attorney who represents Maier's family.

A notice of claim typically is a precursor to a lawsuit . The Journal Sentinel obtained the filing through an open records request to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Olson told the Journal Sentinel he based the filing on records from the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, which investigated all four prisoner deaths. The Sheriff's Office has denied the Journal Sentinel's requests for the records, citing an ongoing investigation.

Maier was one of four prisoners who died at Waupun Correctional Institution over a period of eight months. Maier died of probable malnutrition and dehydration, and his death was ruled a homicide.

"The publicity given to the criminal case ... opened a window into a world that most citizens and most politicians choose to pretend does not exist — a world of unimaginable inhumanity inside our state's prison system," Olson said in an interview.

Seven former prison staffers, including the former warden, face charges in connection with his death. The notice of claim names 26 other prison staff members who were supposed to be caring for Maier or witnessed his deteriorating condition in the days leading up to his death in the Restrictive Housing Unit.

The Journal Sentinel asked the state Department of Corrections about the employment status of those 26 employees.

Eighteen remain employed, while eight are no longer working for the department, said Beth Hardtke, a DOC spokeswoman.

Hardtke, citing privacy rights governing the release of public employee records, said she could not provide more specific information within the Journal Sentinel's deadline.

Those still employed include staff who may be on administrative leave, who may have been disciplined, those still under investigation and others who may have been cleared of wrongdoing, she said.

"When criminal charges were announced in the death of Donald Maier, the Department of Corrections was clear that the criminal investigation must remain open and DOC’s internal investigations would continue to ensure that everyone involved is appropriately held accountable," she said.

Prison staff did not follow protocol when shutting off water to Maier's cell, claim says

The notice of claim offers a more detailed look at what occurred in the days before Maier's death.

According to the claim:

Maier was in the prison's Behavioral Housing Unit for unspecified mental health problems when he was found unresponsive on Feb. 13.

Staff planned to move him to the Health Services Unit for medical treatment, but as they tried to move him, Maier became alert and "resistive."

Prison staff used a Taser on Maier and then placed him in a suicide observation cell in the prison's Restrictive Housing Unit, more commonly known as solitary confinement or segregation. The notice of claim does not name the individual staff members responsible for moving Maier or deploying the Taser.

"Although he had severe mental and medical concerns that were well-documented in his prison records, he received none of the medication (or possibly just one dose of medication) that had been prescribed for his medical and behavioral issues," the claim says.

At 12:45 a.m. Feb. 16, Michael Lueneburg, a correctional officer on the restrictive housing unit, requested that the water in Maier's cell be shut off.

It was the first time the water was shut off to Maier's cell, and the claim does not say why Lueneburg made that decision.

Lueneburg did not follow DOC rules which required him to get initial approval from a supervisor for a water shut-off, nor did he file an incident report, the claim says.

If water is shut off for more than two hours, prison staff are required to notify a nurse and the prison's security director, offer water to the prisoner, and write down when water has been offered.

Capt. Joel Sankey, the shift commander, did a "wellness check" of Maier at 12:45 a.m. and 2:10 a.m. that day without documenting the water shut-off or preparing an incident report, the claim says.

Lueneberg and Sankey were not criminally charged in Maier's death, and both are still employed by the Department of Corrections.

Later that same day, Feb. 16, Maier told a doctor he wanted "water, water, water, all the water in the world" and multiple officers reported Maier had been "drinking from the toilet, acting like he was swimming in his cell, speaking incoherently, and repeatedly saying he wanted water."

Staff did turn on the water at several points over the following days, but never notified Maier when that happened. Maier ate his last meal on Feb. 17, five days before his death.

Staff did not intervene and Maier was found dead in his cell

In the final days of his life, prison staff, including physicians, noted Maier's deteriorating condition but none intervened.

The notice of claim provided the following examples:

On Feb. 19, staff reported he was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell, shaking, but did not help him.

On the morning of Feb. 21, a staff member and a registered nurse checked Maier for a possible seizure or any other medical emergency, but took no action.

Later that day, a physician from the prison's Health Services Unit visited Maier to perform an out-of-cell evaluation. Staff told the doctor Maier refused the meeting. The doctor saw Maier on the floor of his cell and commented on his frail condition, but did not insist on entering his cell.

That evening, one of the correctional officers on shift notified his superior that Maier was not doing well. He was told to "keep an eye on it" and file an incident report if the situation continued, the filing says.

Maier was later found by a correctional officer shaking in his cell and appeared to be having a seizure. No medical personnel were called for help, nor did staff intervene.

On the morning of Feb. 22, seven prison staffers saw Maier unresponsive and naked, lying on the floor of his cell. Again, none of them entered Maier's cell to check on him or call for medical staff.

At 3:41 p.m., Maier was found dead.

Seven former prison staffers, including the warden, face charges in Maier's death

The notice of claim includes the names of Hepp, the former warden, and six other former staff members who were charged in Maier's death.

Lt. Brandon James Fisher, Sgt. Alexander John Hollfelder, nurse Jessica Hosfelt, and correctional officers Jamall Rabb Russel, Jeramie Heyward Chalker and Sarah Anne Margaret Ransbottom face a mix of charges, including misconduct in office and abuse of residents in a penal facility.

The criminal case was seen as a rare flare of hope for criminal justice reform advocates and prisoners across the state and their families.

Olson, the attorney for Maier's family, called the charges "remarkable."

"We litigate civil damages cases for violation of the civil rights of prisoners all the time. We always have several of them pending, and almost none of those situations gave rise to criminal charges," he said. "This is an extraordinarily rare thing and the sheriff's department deserves a lot of credit."

Olson said he plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of Maier's family in the coming months.

Editor's note, July 26, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify that the individuals accused of using a Taser on Donald Maier were not named in the notice of claim.

Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on X @Vanessa_Swales .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waupun prison staff Tasered man who died of dehydration, failed to give him medication, claim says