ATHENS - Almost a week after a 40-year-old woman died in the Clarke County Jail, officials aren't sure what killed her.<br>
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Laverne Rose Hubbard was found unconscious in a holding cell last Saturday, some eight hours after being booked on battery charges.<br>
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Autopsy results are not complete, though Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Fred Stephens said foul play is not suspected. Prison officials are reviewing their procedures to make sure Hubbard's death couldn't have been prevented.<br>
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The woman had a history of heart problems and may have been under the influence of crack cocaine while in jail, Hubbard's brother told the Athens Banner-Herald.<br>
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A woman who was in the jail at the time said Hubbard repeatedly complained of problems breathing and asked to be taken to a hospital. Stephens said it appeared that nurses working for the sheriff's department checked up on Hubbard's condition more than once in the hours before her death.<br>
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"I know on several occasions during the time of her detention she was looked in on by the staff," Stephens said.<br>
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Nikki Dalton, who says she was in the jail at the same time as Hubbard, also said at least two nurses checked on Hubbard.<br>
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That could have met the jail's obligations, according to a national expert in jail and prison health care.<br>
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"There's only an obligation to provide an assessment to determine if the individual needs further care," said Rebecca Craig, director of standards and correctional health programs for the San Francisco-based Institute of Medical Quality.<br>
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"The nurse goes in and talks to them. It's not unusual that they should not take (the inmate) to the emergency room."<br>
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Sheriff's officials said they would not release any further information until their internal probe was done.<br>
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Inmate advocate John Cole Vodicka of the southwest Georgia-based Prison and Jail Project admits it's a tough judgment call on the part of jail staff whether to take an inmate seriously if that person wants to be taken to a hospital.<br>
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"But I don't think there are many people who upon arrest and booking into a facility immediately begin demanding to see a doctor," Vodicka said.<br>
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"Most jailers probably hope that within hours that individual is going to be home," he said. "There's that belief that, 'If we can just hold out for another day, we won't have to foot the bill.'"
