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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Latest on a Connecticut inmate's lawsuit over forced medication being dismissed Thursday because he refused to enter a courtroom for trial (all times local):
12:25 p.m.
Connecticut prison officials say they didn't confiscate any paperwork needed for trial by an inmate suing prison medical staff for forcibly medicating him with psychotropic drugs.
Kacey Lewis refused to appear in a Hartford courtroom for the first day of his trial Thursday, saying officials seized notes and documents he needed and didn't allow him to take a shower before the proceeding. A federal judge then dismissed Lewis' lawsuit.
Department of Correction spokesman Andrius Banevicius said prison officials didn't take Lewis' paperwork and gave him a chance to shower before court.
Lewis sued medical staff at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights by forcibly medicating him.
Officials expect Lewis to appeal the dismissal.
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9:29 a.m.
A lawsuit by a prison inmate who said Connecticut officials medicated him with psychotropic drugs against his will has been dismissed because he refused to enter the courtroom on the first day of trial.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant said Thursday that she tossed the case because Kacey Lewis refused to participate in the trial.
Bryant played a recording of a conversation she had with Lewis. He said officials confiscated his notes and documents and he couldn't proceed without them. Lewis also said he wasn't allowed to shower before court.
Lewis didn't name the officials. He has been representing himself.
State officials expect Lewis to appeal.
He is suing medical staff at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers and accusing them of violating his constitutional rights by forcibly medicating him.
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