Judge considering case of mentally ill man in WV solitary confinement for 12 years

In the meantime, he has asked the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation to consider what resolution it can reach in the case.

Keith Lowe, 51, has been in solitary confinement for more than 12 years at Mount Olive, in Fayette County, where he is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his 2005 first-degree murder conviction of Roy Loyd.

Lowe attempted suicide in April, and his attorneys have asked that he be transported to a mental health hospital and removed from solitary confinement, as he is at risk of attempting suicide again.

They also asked that his property, including a television that was removed after his suicide attempt, be returned to him.

Lowe’s testimony

Judge Thomas Johnston, of the Southern District of West Virginia, heard about three hours of testimony and argument Wednesday afternoon regarding Lowe’s case.

Lowe testified over video feed, often crying as he described the conditions he lives in, particularly the strip searches he said he is forced to incur every time he is taken to or from his cell. He said these searches make him not want to take his recreation time or attend therapy sessions.

For recreation, he is put in a cage in a room with slots in the wall so that wind can blow through. His attorneys have said recreation is often only available during cold weather or at night.

Mental illnesses

Lowe has tried to get mental health help, and he praised the efforts of the therapists from PsiMed, the company that provides mental health services at Mount Olive. However, he said the therapists have been unable to help his problems and he is unable to receive treatment on the weekends even though he has asked.

Lowe recalled being told as a teenager at a children’s home in Ohio that he had ADHD, schizophrenia and depression. He was voluntarily hospitalized for mental health needs in 2002 in Kentucky, where he said he received diagnoses including depression, post-traumatic childhood stress disorder, extreme paranoia and bipolar disorder.

During his testimony, Lowe repeatedly stated his intent to try to kill himself again, saying “Next time, I won’t botch it.�

Grievances

Lowe said he was told by DCR personnel that he would never get out of solitary confinement and that Mount Olive Superintendent John Frame said he didn’t know Lowe lived like this.

“He couldn’t do 30 minutes in a place he put me for 13 years,� Lowe said.

Lydia Milnes, one of Lowe’s attorneys, walked Lowe through various grievances he had filed, including one in January 2023 when he complained of unsuccessfully trying to get mental health help for three weekends straight.

About three weeks later, Lowe reportedly began to cut himself “to get rid of the pain.�

Escape attempts

Under cross-examination from Jonathan Calhoun, assistant West Virginia attorney general, Lowe said he had made five or six escape attempts. Lowe said he made these attempts because he believed he was going to be killed by prison staff.

He was put in solitary confinement after an escape attempt in 2012.

Milnes pointed out that one of Lowe’s write-ups for attempted escape came when he slipped a hand out of a handcuff and then put it back in. Another time, staff reportedly found a tool in a peanut butter jar that they believed Lowe could have used to escape.

Expert testimony

Dr. Stuart Grassian, an expert in the psychiatric effects of solitary confinement, testified that, based on his limited review of Lowe’s records and Lowe’s testimony, Lowe was obsessively preoccupied with suicide.

This sort of preoccupation is one of the most common problems people in solitary confinement face, Grassian testified. He said Lowe’s conditions of solitary confinement, particularly the recreation facility, seemed “particularly harsh.�

He stressed that Lowe needed to be taken to a psychiatric hospital for adequate care, saying the “odds of lethality� on another suicide attempt are “extremely high.�

Under cross-examination, Grassian dismissed questions about Lowe possibly lying.

“When a person is desperate, they’re desperate. That doesn’t mean they’re not being honest,� he said. “You can’t fake it. The man is in anguish.�

He said a desperate attempt to get out of solitary confinement and a desperate attempt at suicide are “almost the same thing.�

Grassian said that taking away Lowe’s property, such as his television, made the obsession worse as there was now nothing to distract Lowe.

Prison superintendent’s testimony

Frame testified about his experiences with Lowe. He has worked for 24 years at Mount Olive and was an investigator on Lowe’s escape attempts. He said no one has attempted escape more than Lowe.

His testimony on whether Lowe’s property had been returned after his escape attempt was unclear and confused both Lowe’s attorney and the judge.

Frame said a “gap in [disciplinary] write-ups would be tremendously helpful� in getting Lowe out of solitary confinement. Lowe could be taken out of solitary confinement in the future, he said, but it would be a group decision.

Milnes said that, prior to his suicide attempt, Lowe had no disciplinary write-ups since 2022 and that, at one point, he had gone four years without a write-up.

He received two write-ups related to his suicide attempt. One was for having illegal substances that he tried to overdose with and the other for having a television that was not in his name. Lowe said it was given to him by another inmate.

Judge’s reaction

Milnes told Johnston that Lowe wasn’t violent and that she had filed her request because she had seen such a dramatic change in Lowe’s demeanor. She said William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston has handled inmates more violent than Lowe and that the facility could adequately treat him.

“I think Mr. Lowe desires a chance to heal,� she said.

Johnston pointed out that ruling in this matter could create a “stream of additional petitions� asking him to overrule Mount Olive management decisions. Milnes said that consideration shouldn’t keep Johnston from ensuring Lowe’s constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

Calhoun argued that Lowe had an “exceptional history of trying to escape� at Mount Olive. Johnston pointed out that Lowe has never actually escaped, saying he was surprised that someone with so little success had tried so many times.

Johnston said the fact that Lowe has been in solitary confinement for over 12 years is “shocking� and a “pretty ugly fact.�

Johnston concluded the hearing by pointing out that granting relief for Lowe would create a problem for him and the DCR. He did not expound on what problems the DCR would face. He said he would take the issue under advisement and said the DCR might want to find a resolution before he has a chance to rule.

He also asked, but did not direct, Frame to return Lowe’s property to him. Milnes told the Gazette-Mail that Lowe’s television and CD player were returned Thursday morning.