THE NATION - News from May 21, 2009
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A prison inmate who died after spending nearly four hours in the desert heat had been left in an outdoor holding cell twice as long as she should have been, the state prisons director said.
Three corrections officers have been put on paid leave while the state investigates the death of Marcia Powell, who was left in an unshaded cell in 103-degree heat at a prison in Goodyear.
“The death of Marcia Powell is a tragedy and a failure,” prisons director Charles Ryan said. “The investigation will determine whether there was negligence and will tell us how to remedy our failures.”
Powell, 48, was serving a 27-month term for prostitution.
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