Family attorney: Gotbaum may have been drinking before arrest

(CNN) -- Carol Ann Gotbaum was on her way to an alcohol treatment facility before dying in police custody at Phoenix's airport, according to her family's attorney.

Police have said Gotbaum apparently strangled herself while trying to maneuver out of handcuffs in a holding cell after her arrest for alleged disorderly conduct. A video released Thursday shows officers arresting the 45-year-old New York woman just before she died September 28.

Family attorney Michael Manning spoke this week with CNN's John Roberts about Gotbaum's final hours.

Manning: We know that when she landed in Phoenix she was absolutely committed, determined and absolutely stone cold sober when she landed here about 12:20. She was very calm and very determined to get to Tucson to get well.

By the time she reached the gate and found out she was denied boarding, she had a very, very strong emotional reaction to that, and we believe that that wasn't just a result of her being upset because of her determination to get well. We believe she may have been drinking, but we have no evidence of that at this point yet. Watch as the lawyer describes Gotbaum's "emotional reaction" »

Roberts: Do you believe then, based upon that assumption, that she may actually have been drunk?

Manning: Well, it's certainly possible, and if she was inebriated, she was also very, very emotionally distraught -- all the more reason why when authorities approach her, they have to approach her with great care and a significant level of humanity.

Roberts: Mr. Manning, we have heard from some eyewitnesses who say they did not observe the police officers try to calm her down before they took her to the floor, handcuffed her and took her away. Police spokesman Sgt. Hill says that's just not the case, that's not true.

Manning: Well, we've talked to witnesses, and they've said the same thing, that they did not try to calm her down, they just went after her.

Roberts: But the Phoenix police also specifically point out here that they were not aware of her medical condition with alcoholism; they had no idea that she was on her way to a treatment center. So could they have known that she might have posed a danger to herself or others and should not have been left alone unobserved?

Manning: Police in the field never know that -- that's a slight exaggeration, but they never really know what an emotionally distraught citizen, what kind of conditions they have. Which is precisely why you calm, you approach, you calm, and if there's a problem, you get medical [help] involved. And you humanely restrain.

Roberts: You have no problem with fact that police intervened -- it's the way that they intervened?

Manning: This family has absolutely, utterly no quarrel with the fact that Phoenix PD was called and that they intervened. Because she needed to be talked to; she needed to be perhaps even restrained humanely.

Roberts: Mr. Manning, during her time at the Sky Harbor airport, she made several calls to her husband. Do you know what the content of some of those phone calls was?

Manning: I do. The first one was perhaps the most heart-wrenching. She said, 'Noah, three quarters of my journey is over. I'm going to do this for our kids, I'm going to do this for you, and I'm going to do this for myself.' So it was on that continuum of happy, confident, determined and committed to getting well -- to being very distraught and upset that she couldn't get on that plane. E-mail to a friend

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