(Headline USA) An attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was blamed for George Floyd’s overdose death, said Saturday that Chauvin’s family has been kept in the dark by federal prison officials after he was stabbed in prison.
The lawyer, Gregory M. Erickson, slammed the lack of transparency by the Federal Bureau of Prisons a day after his client was stabbed on Friday by another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, a prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday that Chauvin was seriously injured in the stabbing. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack.
On Saturday, Brian Evans, a spokesperson for the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said: “We have heard that he is expected to survive.”
Erickson said Chauvin’s family and his attorneys have hit a wall trying to obtain information about the attack from Bureau of Prisons officials. He said Chauvin’s family has been forced to assume he is in stable condition, based only on news accounts, and has been contacting the prison repeatedly seeking updates but have been provided with no information.
“As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous,” Erickson said in a statement to the AP. “It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek’s assault was allowed to happen.”
“How the family members who are in charge of Derek’s decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not informed after his stabbing further indicates the institution’s poor procedures and lack of institutional control.”
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening.
The Bureau of Prisons has only confirmed an assault at the Arizona facility and said employees performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
The Bureau of Prisons did not name the victim or provide a medical status “for privacy and safety reasons.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
