Defense lawyers for the man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week say he’s being deprived of his dignity and resources by being unnecessarily kept under suicide precautions.
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Ina motion filed Saturday, Cole Tomas Allen's attorneys requested that he be taken off any suicide restrictions, which they characterized as “demeaning,” while he’s awaiting further hearings in the case.
Allen’s attorneys wrote that his “placement on suicide watch and suicide precautions amount to violations of his rights under the Due Process Clause to the U.S. Constitution” because he “has exhibited no indications of suicidality,” the motion filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia states.
Allen was armed with multiple guns, as well as knives, officials have said, when he sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the event was being held on April 25.
Allen, 31, fell to the ground and was taken into custody, officials have said.
His defense team argued in the motion that Allen has been held under varying levels of suicide watch at different times since his arrest that night.
As of Friday, he was under suicide precautions, which are less restrictive than suicide watch, the motion says, despite a nurse's recommendation that day that the designation be removed.
Allen was at one point held in a "safe cell," which is "a padded room with constant lighting and 24-hour lockdown procedures, including the requirements that the inmate in the room wear a vest akin to a strait jacket, be strip searched upon entry and exit, and not leave the cell except for legal or medical visits,” the filing states in a footnote.
The restrictions have prevented Allen from communicating with anyone besides his legal team, as well as accessing the commissary or resources such as jail tablets, the filing states. His lawyers wrote that they believe he has also been unable to review case documents they leave for him.
Source: Drudge Report
