The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council is asking state Attorney Steve Bullock's office to launch an investigation into Allen "A.J." Long Soldier Jr.'s death.

Long Soldier died at Northern Montana Hospital Nov. 23 of what a coroner and jury found to be acute alcohol withdrawl.  He was transported to the hospital from the Hill County Detention Center, where he was being held on a misdemeanor warrant.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said this morning that the letter has been received, but that it is too early to comment on what the department will do.

Blaine County Sheriff's deputies arrested Long Soldier the night Nov. 19 and a deputy who testified during the coroner's inquest held into Long Soldier's death said that he did not appear to have been drinking at that time.

His health deteriorated over the next several days, twice being poor enough to warrant his transport to the hospital.

Detention center staff said that they felt he was exhibiting signs of alcohol withdrawl, sweating and hallucinating.

At one point, he complained someone had pulled his hair out, and he talked to his mother and grandmother a lot, staff testified.

Long Soldier died in the early morning hours Nov. 23 after emergency staff worked unsuccessfully to revive him from multi-system failure.

The associate state medical provider who performed an autopsy on Long Soldier, said during the inquest that the signs were consistent with alcohol withdrawl.  Deaths from alcohol withdrawl are often preventable, but the medical provider said that, in his opinion, nothing more could have been done for Long Soldier.

In the letter, James Steele Jr., the chair of the counci l , asks the Department of Justice to address 10 concerns with the handling of the circumstances leading up to Long Soldier's death and the March inquest into his death.

Long Soldier, a star athlete who led the Hays-Lodge Pole basketball team To a Class C championship in 2007, died at the age of 18.

"En r o l l e d a t Ha s ke l l University in Lawrence, Kansas, he had a bright future ahead of him," Steele wrote in the letter.

"Will anyone be held accountable for the obviously incorrect assessment of A.J.'s serious medical condition that directly led to his death?"  The letter asks.  "How can it be justified to treat a serious medical condition with untrained jail staff in a jail cell at a detention center ill-equiped to deal with a serious medical condition?"

The council also questions if

A. J.'s race played a role in his treatment.

"Because A.J. was obviously Indian, incarcerated in countyrun facilities, overseen by non- Indian jailors and supervisors, strong concern exists that his lack of adequate care was because of his race," Steele wrote in the letter.

Steele and the council also raise concern about Hill County Attorney Gina Dahl's involvement during the coroner's inquest, calling into question if her marriage to the Hill County Detention Center administrator is a conflict of interest.

"Does a conflict of interest exist?  If so, what will be done to conduct an unbiased proceeding?

What will be done to sanction the Hill County Attorney for adding unnecessary complications to an already distressing circumstance?"  The letter said.

A conflict of interest would occur if representation of one client is directly adverse to another client, Dahl wrote in response to the letter.

"The fact that my husband works for Hill County does not create a conflict of interest — we are on the same side and the interests do not conflict," she wrote.  "A conflict of interest implies improper sharing of information.  All the information the sheriff's office (including the detention center administrator, my husband) has is information I am entitled to and a conflict would only exist if we were on opposing side and improperly sharing information."

According to state law, a coroner's inquest must be held whenever a person dies while in custody of law enforcement.

The Fergus County coroner conducted the inquest, as state law also requires that an outside coroner conduct the proceedings.

"By statute, the coroner is the one who shall conduct the inquest and question the witnesses.

Because the County Attorney has experience in a courtroom, the coroner requested assistance from the County Attorney in questioning the witnesses," Dahl wrote.

"The fact that I assisted the outside coroner does not negate the independent investigation conducted by the State Division of Criminal Investigation nor the independent findings of the coroner's jury."

Also addressed in the letter were questions about:

• Policies allowing treatment of medical conditions in detention centers as opposed to in hospitals.

• If it is state policy to deny medical treatment to incarcerated people charges with misdemeanors and/or too poor to pay for medical treatment.

• Why Long Soldier was not released on a notice to appear so that he could receive medical treatment.

• If any policy changes have occurred to prevent others from facing Long Soldier's fate.

• Why Long Soldier's pleas for help were ignored and if "incarcerating individuals on mi sdemeanor of fenses i n Montana so important that it is worth risking the life of an individual?"