As The New York Times reported last year:

Two of the inmates — Jesse James and Shawn Fraser — said in statements that Mr. Spear often complained about his medical care. He had a disagreement with an officer about his treatment, they said, and after he asked to see a captain, the officer grabbed his arm and hit him several times, knocking him down.

The officer then repeatedly kicked him in the face and chest while two other officers restrained him, the inmates said.

The Times reported that Spear had filed a lawsuit against medical and nursing staff at the jail in the weeks before he died. In the suit, Spear claimed he had been denied medication by jail staff and that, because he got in touch with Legal Aid lawyers, “I have correction officers retaliating against me.”

In a statement to the Daily News, Correction Officers Union President Norman…