The NYPD is investigating how a Brooklyn man died while in custody at Brooklyn Criminal Court on Friday morning.
Police reported that Soso Ramishvili, 32, of Avenue X was found unconscious and unresponsive inside a holding cell of the courthouse at 120 Schermerhorn St. in Downtown Brooklyn at about 8:25 a.m. on March 21.
Responding EMS units pronounced Ramishvili dead at the scene. His body was transferred to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
In a joint statement, the Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defenders alleged that Ramishvili had been allowed to languish “in pain in custody for three days and was deprived of medical care despite repeated pleas from defense lawyers and other personnel to secure them needed care.”
Police sources, on the other hand, report that Ramishvili was not denied medical attention and was taken to the hospital multiple times over a three-day period but was ultimately released back into their custody by doctors following the visits. A medical team inside the courthouse reportedly found Ramishvili slumped over that morning and attempted to revive him.
Ramishvili had been arrested on March 18 in the confines of the 63rd Precinct on charges of petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Court records noted that he was initially scheduled to be arraigned the following morning, March 19. However, that hearing and others labeled “transfer” had been rescheduled numerous times leading up to Friday.
amNewYork contacted the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for comment. A spokesperson said it had no information about what happened to Ramishvili, as the case never reached the point of arraignment.
The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defenders believe that Ramishvili “should have been granted a desk appearance [ticket] and released based on the offense,” which they called a low-level crime.
“We demand an urgent, thorough, and independent investigation into this latest death in custody without delay,” the organization’s joint statement said, citing the recent rash of in-custody deaths that the Correction Department reported. “With every one of these tragic incidents, the city persists in obstructing access to even the most fundamental details about what happened, denying counsel, the family, and the public the transparency they are owed. This is cruel and entirely unacceptable.”
The NYPD said its Force Investigation Division is handling the case.
