Live tweets: Wrongful death trial
The family of a man who died in a Vermillion group home wants a jury to award damages for wrongful death.
A weeklong trial in the case of Bernadine Red Bear vs. Southeast South Dakota Activity Center (SESDAC) will begin Monday in Vermillion, four years after an initial complaint was filed in Clay County circuit court.
The brothers and sisters of Darelle "Bill" Red Bear says the home ignored his worsening health condition for four days without taking him to a hospital, and that the agency and his state-appointed legal guardian decided to cremate his body and donate his organs without family consent.
"Lakota people do not believe in any of this. We don't cremate our family. We are not going to give away our body parts," Bernadine Red Bear said in a YouTube video posted about her brother earlier this month.
Follow John Hult's live tweets from the courtroom Monday @ArgusJHult.
In pre-trial hearings, SESDAC's lawyers said many of the family members hadn't been in contact with Bill Red Bear for years, and that their attempts to reach them after the failed because their contact information wasn't accurate.
Judge Steven Jensen decided earlier this year that the agency could not be held liable for damages in the cremation decision, but that the family's lawyer can talk about the issue at trial.
The Red Bear family's lawyer, Robin Zephier, told Jensen that they believe the decision to cremate the body was based on economics and speaks to an overall pattern of negligence by the Vermillion care provider.
Allegations of negligence and wrongful death will proceed.
Bill Red Bear lived at SESDAC from 2000 through 2009, the year he died. The lawsuit states that he fell ill on Dec. 31, 2008, and that his condition deteriorated until he was found unresponsive the morning of Jan. 4, having choked to death on his own vomit.
"Neither SESDAC, Inc., nor its staff, provided Darelle Red Bear any medical care or examination by a medical professional," the complaint said.
"If they'd gotten him some kind of help, some kind of medical attention, my brother Bill would be alive today," Bernadine Red Bear said in the online video.
The family didn't find out he was dead until five months later, when a brother called Vermillion and asked to speak with Bill Red Bear. They learned shortly thereafter that his organs had been donated.
SESDAC held a funeral for Bill Red Bear, but the family organized a second funeral for loved ones later in 2009.
Bill Red Bear had a legal guardian, appointed by the state, who assisted in setting up the original funeral.
The lawsuit asks a jury to award damages for the funeral expenses and money damages for negligence.
The Red Bear family lawyer declined to comment on the case, and lawyers for SESDEC did not return messages.
The trial is set to begin with jury selection Monday morning and last through the week.
John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617. You can tweet him @ArgusJHult or find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog