Castlee Noble’s death at age 55 in Coryell County Jail, Gatesville, Texas, is the subject of a Custodial Death Report that provides details of his tragic passing on August 26, 2021. Many of the details sought in the report are awaiting results of his autopsy. Little is currently known other than his having refused prescription medications for a few days prior and that he was found unresponsive in the detox cell where he had been moved.

Several forms of restraint have been approved by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) for use in Texas county jails. Among those restraint systems are restraint chairs, which come from manufacturers with instructions indicating potential dangers. Currently, the final question on the Custodial Death Report form is whether the deceased inmate was being held in a restraint system in the time leading up to the fatality or the events causing the fatality.

The following is information on the potential dangers of restraint chairs.

Restraint Chairs – Potential Hazards

• An individual held in a restraint chair is at an increased risk of suffering a potentially fatal blood clot, particularly when physical trauma proceeded the immobilization caused by being strapped into the chair. The force that is frequently used to strap in uncooperative inmates is a form of physical trauma.
• A person in a restraint chair is at risk of serious injury or death if the person strapping them in has not read and/or does not understand how to properly place a person in the restraint system.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series.

Posts on this website are intended as resources to assist current and former Texas inmates in the state’s county jails. There is never an intention of implying that individuals or entities have been involved in improprieties.

–Guest Contributor