Shackled woman died intoxicated
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A woman who died in police custody during an airport layover was intoxicated on a potent mix of alcohol and antidepressants and accidentally strangled herself on her shackles, an autopsy has concluded.
The Maricopa County medical examiner’s office said Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was acutely intoxicated on alcohol and prescription drugs when she died in a police holding room at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sept. 28.
Gotbaum’s blood-alcohol level of 0.24% was three times Arizona’s legal driving limit of 0.08%. The official cause of death was hanging.
A private autopsy conducted for Gotbaum’s New York family has not been completed. The family has accused police of mistreating Gotbaum.
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