Ricardo Cruciani’s lawyer said he should have been in protective custody and on suicide watch, but it was not clear whether that had taken place.
Ricardo Cruciani is the 12th person to die either in city custody or shortly after release this year.Ricardo Cruciani is the 12th person to die either in city custody or shortly after release this year.A neurologist facing a life sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting patients died by hanging on Rikers Island on Monday, despite directions from a judge that he be held in protective custody and under suicide watch, Gothamist has learned.
The DOC still has not confirmed Cruciani was the person who died, instead releasing a statement on Monday that said an unnamed person at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island had died at about 6:30 a.m. The city's fire department said EMS responded to a call about an unresponsive person around 6 a.m. and tried to resuscitate the patient before declaring him dead at the scene.
“Neither of these conditions were, to our knowledge, ever complied with,” Sosinsky said. “Had they been, we would not be having this terrible discussion."