NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Davidson County Sheriff says the suspect accused of planting weapons during construction of the new jail deserves to be held in a super max cell while awaiting trial.
Sheriff Daron Hall this week commented publicly for the first time since Alex Friedmann filed a lawsuit complaining about his treatment behind bars.
Friedmann is currently locked up in the supermax unit of Riverbend state prison awaiting trial. He's charged in a bizarre plot to plant weapons in the Davidson County jail.
Friedmann is now suing the state, upset with his living conditions.
According to the sheriff, he's dangerous and exactly where he needs to be: Locked up in maximum security.
“I don't know what to say. You should be housed in the most secure environment there is, period," said Hall.
Hall is not named in a lawsuit filed by Friedmann.
Friedmann is suing the state, claiming he's been isolated for 18 months in extremely restrictive, punitive and harsh conditions usually reserved only for death row inmates.
In his first public comment since learning about the lawsuit, Sheriff Hall says that's exactly where Friedmann belongs.
Friedmann has now responded to the sheriff’s comments through his attorney Chris Smith:
“Alex Friedmann has been held in solitary confinement for 18 months in an 'iron man' cell typically reserved for punishing convicted prisoners, like Curtis Watson who have committed serious disciplinary infractions.
Alex has not committed any disciplinary infractions and has not been convicted of any crime.
Part of the relief Alex is seeking in this lawsuit is to be moved to the general population at Riverbend.
The charges against him may be serious, but these charges do not override the constitutional right to due process.
As the Supreme Court once said: 'there is no iron curtain drawn between the Constitution and the prisons of this country.'"
A judge will decide.
