Jail guards say French citizen warned them he couldn’t breathe

Angie Wagner

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - A minute before Philippe Le Menn's body went limp, he told jail guards trying to restrain him that he couldn't breathe, but they continued to struggle with the French citizen, corrections officers told a coroner's inquest jury Friday.

"He did say forcefully 'I can't breathe,' " Officer Ray Bingaman testified. "I said back to him, if you can talk, you can breathe."

Bingaman said he made the comment to try and assure Le Menn that "things weren't as bad as they seemed."

But soon after, Le Menn's body went limp. He had been suffocated when as many as five guards tried to restrain him in Clark County Detention Center jail cell.

His Jan. 4 death was ruled a homicide by the coroner, prompting an FBI review of the case. Metro Police put nine corrections officers on paid leave pending the outcome of the inquest.

Now, a jury is trying to decide if guards should be held criminally responsible for Le Menn's death.

The jail surveillance videotape of the struggle between Le Menn and guards was shown in slow motion Friday to the jury. The tape sparked international attention when it was broadcast on national television in the United States and France. But it doesn't show conclusively whether officers were justified in their actions.

Le Menn's family and the American Civil Liberties Union claim guards used excessive force.

Several jail officers testified that Le Menn was uncooperative with them while he was being booked on misdemeanor charges relating to an incident at a local elementary school.

Le Menn was charged with annoying a minor, causing a disturbance on school property and disorderly conduct after he went to the school and began banging on a school bus with his fist.

Le Menn was placed in a cell, but soon drew attention when he took all his clothes off, put them in the toilet and began beating the cell door window with a food tray.

The officers said Le Menn was making comments about having "the right to die," so he was handcuffed, wrapped in a blanket and taken to another cell in the isolation unit. The struggle began when officers tried to remove the handcuffs.

"We just wanted him to stop resisting," Bingaman said.

The officers used pepper spray and attempted restraint moves on Le Menn, but Bingaman said the 277-pound Le Menn was so strong that four officers were not able to control him. As the struggle continued, other officers came in and out of the room, some doing so because they were overcome with pepper spray.

"The first thing that came to mind was how strong he was," Bingaman said. "It actually scared me."

He said officers also had a hard time controlling Le Menn because he was naked and sweaty.

When officers finally got Le Menn to the ground, several testified Friday that Le Menn said he couldn't breathe. Bingaman said that struck him as odd because Le Menn was still talking and resisting the officers. Officer Brian Porter testified that Le Menn's body went limp about a minute after his statement.

Another officer testified that he hit Le Menn twice in the side of the face and tried to use a technique on Le Menn to render him unconscious, but Le Menn was too combative.

Dr. Lary Simms, chief county medical examiner, testified that Le Menn was suffocated when pressure was applied to the back, front and sides of his neck. Several officers testifying Friday said they didn't notice anyone holding Le Menn's neck.

Police didn't inform the French consulate of Le Menn's arrest, as international law dictates. The consul general in Los Angeles, Josseline de Clausade, said Friday that if Le Menn was able to contact her office, "Everything would have gone different."

Inquests are similar to criminal trials, but there are no plaintiffs, no defendants and no cross-examination of witnesses.

The prosecutors, jury and Moapa Valley Justice of the Peace Lanny Waite, serving as hearing master, were allowed to ask the witnesses questions. Le Menn's family members and relatives of the corrections officers also were allowed to ask questions.

Testimony continues today.