September 23, 2009

State Permitted to Force-Feed Wayne Bent

» By Jeff Bent | 10:05 AM

KRQE Video of Wayne Bent Testimony

(Click arrow to play video)

Judge Rules Cult Leader Bent Can Be Force-Fed

By John Bear
Valencia County News-Bulletin
© 2009 The Albuquerque Journal

LOS LUNAS — A Valencia County District judge ruled Wednesday that the New Mexico Department of Corrections can force-feed a cult leader, serving a 10-year sentence for criminal sexual contact of a minor, who has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 11.

District Court Judge John Pope said that doctors may force Wayne Bent to take artificial nutrients and hydration if they deem it necessary.

“I am not going to hasten Mr. Bent’s death,” Pope said.

Bent did break his fast in the courtroom with orange juice and an Odwalla juice drink brought in by his family.

Bent waived his right to have the hearing closed. Before the hearing was opened to the public, about 13 of his followers congregated in the courthouse atrium and appeared excited at the chance to see Bent through a narrow glass window in the courtroom door.

Some of them appeared overwhelmed with emotion during the proceedings. Bent appeared frail and remained confined to a wheelchair.

Pope also ruled against Bent’s request to have his “spiritual family” bring him food at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas, where he is currently being held after his conviction in December.

“I can’t order meals to be brought in by the family,” Pope said. “That would be chaos.”

Bent’s son Jeffrey testified that at least seven people from Our Lord of Righteousness Church, which Bent leads, would be available in rotating shifts to come to the prison to prepare meals. He said they would be willing to submit to searches and background checks.

Department of Corrections general counsel James Brewster said that if Bent’s family were allowed to bring in meals, it would open the floodgates for other inmates to begin making such requests. He added that allowing such a request would pose administrative and security problems.

CNMCF Warden Anthony Romero said he had met with Bent in August, and Bent informed of his plan to go on a “terminal fast.”

He echoed Brewster’s concerns that submitting to Bent’s requests would set a precedent for other inmates to demand special treatment. He said another inmate had already “followed suit” and embarked on a hunger strike.

Romero said he had taken an oath to protect the lives of the inmates in his custody, and to allow Bent to continue his hunger strike would be tantamount to helping him commit suicide.

Brewster argued that if the court didn’t allow the state to force Bent to take nutrients, then Pope should rule that the correction’s department shouldn’t be held liable for his death.

“He will die within a matter of days,” Brewster said. “(On) September 11, he began refusing food. Monday he began refusing water.”

Brewster said that Bent was on a hunger strike not for religious reasons but to protest his incarceration. Bent’s attorney John McCall argued that his client’s fasting was religious in nature.

“Fasting, in this context, is different from anything the department has ever seen,” McCall said. “Fasting is part of their spiritual tradition.”

Bent took the stand and said that he had participated in fasting beginning in 2007. He said he would continue to refuse food even if the DOC began providing him with vegan meals, but added that he wouldn’t resist being intubated.

“I’ve heard testimony today in court that the primary issue is to protect life and limb,” Bent said. “I see it as the primary issue is to protect my conscience. Life comes second.”

He likened continuing to take meals from the prison as “bowing to an image,” and he invoked a biblical passage in which three men refused to eat the meat from a king even under pain of death.

Bent testified that he feels he was wrongly convicted for religious reasons and was forced to “bow or go to prison.”

A Taos County jury found him guilty of one count of criminal sexual contact with a minor and two other counts in connection with incidents that took place with two underage girls in the summer of 2006 at the church’s Strong City compound in rural Union County.

Bent has appealed the conviction but remains incarcerated. The state Court of Appeals rejected his request for bond pending the outcome of the appeal.

Bent said that the Los Lunas prison did provide acceptable meals for about two months, what he called getting “love from the tray.” He said the prison stopped serving the meals.

“I don’t think it was intentional,” he said. “They just couldn’t do it.”

DOC Medical Director Stephen Vaughn said Bent’s health was in danger because of the fasting and dehydration.

“If anyone asked if he was in imminent danger, I would say yes,” Vaughn said.

«   »