Indiana

Petition: St. Joseph County Jail mistreats Indianapolis house blast convict

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Attorneys for an Indianapolis man awaiting sentencing on charges stemming from a deadly house explosion allege he’s being mistreated in jail.

An emergency petition filed Tuesday on Mark Leonard’s behalf claims the St. Joseph County Jail has violated his constitutional rights. It requests that he be returned immediately to a segregation cell where he held before he was convicted July 14 on murder, arson and conspiracy charges stemming from the 2012 explosion that killed two neighbors.

Court documents say the 46-year-old Leonard is currently held in padded “suicide prevention” cell where he must sleep on a “cold steel table.” They say he can wear only a thick smock and was not allowed to shower for 16 days.

A message seeking comment was left for a jail spokesman.

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