MANSFIELD, Ohio — Attorneys made their opening statements in the retrial of a former Richland County corrections officer accused of causing an inmate's death in September 2019.
Mark Cooper, 57, faces one count of reckless homicide and two counts of involuntary manslaughter for his role in the September 2019 death of inmate Alex Rios.
The charges stem from Cooper's role in the death of Alexander Rios, 28, on September 19, 2019. Cooper was one of several corrections officers who subdued Rios after he ran out of his holding cell.
Cooper was charged after a video revealed his role in Rios's death.
"This wasn't a split-second decision that turned out badly," Drew Wood, one of two prosecutors with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, told the jury. "You will see that the defendant crushed the life and the breath out of Alex Rios."
One of Cooper's attorneys, Sean Boone, said, "We cannot be Monday morning quarterbacking this."
He said Cooper did not cause Rios's death and used a reasonable amount of force.
"No one is saying Alexander Rios deserved to die," Boone said. "This was a tragic situation. It had tragic consequences."
Video evidence
Uncovering video of the incident played a crucial role in learning how Rios died.
The video begins with officers ordering Rios to come down from a divider inside his jail cell. Rios refuses but does not threaten to jump or cause harm.
"We're not going to stand up here and tell you that he should have done that. He shouldn't have," Wood told the jury. "He also shouldn't have died for doing it. "
According to records, Sgt. Jamaal O'Dell said he began recording the video on a hand-held camera after he was called to assist officers who were trying to get Rios to come down.
O'Dell tells Rios he is going to open his cell door to put him in a restraint chair. At 53 seconds into the video, officers open the cell door, and Rios darted out of his cell and past the officers.
Within 10 seconds, Rios is tackled by two officers. Two more officers respond to help restrain him. O'Dell hands the camera to a female officer so he can also assist in restraining Rios.
At 1:20 seconds into the video, the female officer encourages the officers to use more force on Rios, even as the five male officers are on the ground restraining Rios. She shouted, "Tase him. Tase him."
At least twice, Rios is tased. Rios moans in pain. Rios said, "I'm not even fighting." Another officer asked, "Should we tase him again?" The female officer replies, "You need to." However, no one uses their taser this time.
Instead, one of the officers, who has been pressing Rios's head into the concrete floor, punches Rios in the head.
Then, at two minutes and 45 seconds into the video, Cooper, who had placed his right foot on Rios's right shoulder blade, lifts his left foot off the ground. The officer's full body weight is on Rios for seven seconds.
"He finds a spot that he can help, and yes, he puts his foot on the back of Alexander Rios," Boone said. "He does in an effort to help."
At some point in the video, Rios becomes unconscious. None of the officers appear to notice. Instead, they continue shouting commands at Rios.
At close to five minutes, the officers attempted to lift Rios into a restraint chair. "Get up!" shouted one officer as they lifted Rios into a restraint chair. Another officer said, "He's turning blue. He's turning blue." The female officer shouted, "He's turning blue." She immediately called for an ambulance. The officers then placed Rios on his side.
One officer said, "Try to get him some oxygen; make sure everything's going okay for him."
Rios's family said he never regained consciousness after the incident. They removed him from life support a week later.
Cause of death
Boone said Rios tested positive for amphetamines, and a piece of plastic was found in his stomach.
He also said Rios died from a combination of symptoms known as excited delirium.
Wood noted excited delirium is no longer recognized as a cause of death. He said the attorney general's independent expert found Rios died of asphyxiation.
Cooper's first trial ended in a mistrial last November after the jury could not reach a verdict during deliberations.
Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson was a special prosecutor during the first trial. The Ohio Attorney General's Office agreed to try the case this time. The retrial started Monday.
Read more — A Fatal Five Minutes: Retrial begins in Richland Co. jail death case Monday
