From a defense motion:
On September 24, 2009, Mr. Stanford was assaulted by an inmate at Joe Corley Detention Center. As a result of this assault, Mr. Stanford suffered a concussion, traumatic brain injury, fractures of multiple facial bones including the nose, and right orbital bone and injury to his right optic nerve. Mr. Stanford underwent surgery five (5) days later to repair the damage to his face and jaw. He has since complained of frequent headaches, has permanently lost the ability to read with his right eye, and permanently lost all feeling on the right side of his face.
He was moved to the federal detention center. They put him in solitary for 23 days and over-medicated him to the point he became incompetent to stand trial.
At the detention center, Stanford was given Klonopin, Remeron and Zoloft. The doctors who examined him for the competency hearing say the Klonopin was administered in an unusually high dosage, as high as 3.0 mg per day. If Klonopin is not withdrawn correctly, doctors said Stanford could suffer seizures or potentially die
He continually sought bond to get private treatment. His requests were denied each time. He was diagnosed as suffering from delirium, an organic brain syndrome. It could not be determined whether the delirium was the result of over-medication or soft-tissue damage from the traumatic brain injury.
Initially, Stanford had some very prominent lawyers representing him, including at various points, Dick DeGuerin and Robert Luskin. DeGuerin described the conditions under which he was held at Joe Corley:
His motion to have Stanford moved said Stanford is in a single cell with 8 to 10 other inmates, the temperature is over 100 degrees, and sometimes they have been held for hours in total darkness due to electricity going out. He asked that Stanford be moved to a BOP facility but the Judge denied the request.
Eventually, Stanford was found competent to stand trial, provided court-appointed counsel, tried and convicted. And now, unless the conviction is overturned on appeal, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
