Family, attorneys of man in prison work to free him out of fear of coronavirus
The family and attorneys of a Baltimore man locked up in a state penitentiary are calling for him to instead be placed on home detention.
Attorneys for Lanier Brown are doing what they can to free him from prison and send him to his mother's home out of fear of coronavirus.
“I think his overwhelming thing is fear, but I also think he holds on to hope,” said attorney Kate Duval.
Brown, 56, is fearful because underlying medical issues make him vulnerable to the coronavirus, but hopeful the state will transfer his sentence. A team of three attorneys appointed by a federal judge to represent him, reached an excessive force settlement over a police dog bite with Baltimore County police.
Now worried about his health, those attorneys have volunteered to work to get him home.
“It's not to have him released. It's to have his put on home detention in a safe place where he will not be able to get this fatal disease,” said Duval.
“I want him to come home. I'd like for them to release him as soon as possible, if that is possible. My main concern is his health,” said Joyce Brown, Lanier’s mother.
Brown is at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown. It has had 1,461 inmates tested, with 18 positive for the virus and one death.
Medical records show Brown suffers from COPD, asthma and high blood pressure. He's served six years of a 16-year sentence for breaking into a home and stealing a television.
But according to the state, Brown is not parole eligible just yet. The Maryland Parole Commission is investigating his eligibility for medical parole.
A spokesman says, "Medical parole eligibility generally depends upon condition and prognosis, conviction and sentencing information, and determination of whether someone would pose a threat to him/herself or to public safety upon release."
His attorneys say Brown is a model inmate -- a mentor to others. He is not a violent offender and under Gov. Larry Hogan's executive order, he should be put on home detention.
“This is somebody's life. If he gets this virus, he's going to be in trouble,” Duval said.