Montgomery County's Multimillion-Dollar Jail Settlements: Accountability for Injuries Behind Bars

Published July 11, 2019 · Verdicts & Settlements

A person booked into a county jail loses a great deal of freedom. He does not lose the protection of the Constitution. Twice in the first half of 2019, Montgomery County agreed to pay millions of dollars to resolve lawsuits over what happened to men inside the jail on West Third Street in Dayton, and both cases show how families hold a government accountable when ordinary negligence law would leave them with nothing.

I spent 19 years with the Dayton Police Department, including years as a sergeant. I have booked people into that jail. Most corrections officers do a hard job honorably. When force goes too far, though, the law provides a path, and it is a different path than most people expect.

The two settlements

Robert A. Richardson, Sr. As reported locally, Richardson was 28 when he died in the Montgomery County Jail on May 19, 2012. He was there because he had missed a court hearing on unpaid child support. According to the estate's lawsuit, he was having a medical emergency when jail staff handcuffed and restrained him face down; the suit described him as "essentially crushed to death." The county's own review concluded its employees followed procedure, and the coroner ruled the death an accident due to a heart-rhythm problem.

The family sued in federal court in 2014. The county's insurer argued the officers were immune from suit. A federal district judge disagreed, and in December 2018 the United States Supreme Court declined to take up the county's appeal. In January 2019, on the day the federal civil trial was set to begin, the parties reached a $3.5 million settlement, as reported by the Dayton Daily News.

Joseph Guglielmo. In June 2019, a $5.6 million settlement was announced in the federal case of Joseph Guglielmo, a homeless veteran who was beaten inside the jail in January 2015. As reported locally, his lawsuit alleged excessive force and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, and claimed that some officers stood where they would block a surveillance camera. His injuries included broken facial bones that required reconstructive surgery, and he was left permanently disabled and using a wheelchair. Court filings cited an expert estimate of roughly $5.3 million for his lifetime care. The county disputed how his injuries happened, contending he had been hurt before he arrived at the jail.

Neither settlement is an admission of wrongdoing, and our office did not handle either case. But together they tell injured people and grieving families something important about the value and the mechanics of these claims.

Why these cases were brought in federal court

Ohio's Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act, R.C. Chapter 2744, gives counties broad immunity from ordinary negligence lawsuits, and operating a jail is a governmental function. If the only theory were that a jailer was careless, a county would often be able to get the case dismissed.

These cases were different. They were brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983, the federal civil-rights statute. Section 1983 makes any person who, acting "under color of" state law, deprives someone of rights secured by the Constitution "liable to the party injured." A corrections officer on duty acts under color of state law. Using excessive force on a detainee, or ignoring a serious medical need, can violate the Constitution.

Ohio's own immunity statute steps aside for these claims. R.C. 2744.09(E) says Chapter 2744 does not apply to civil claims based on alleged violations of the Constitution or statutes of the United States. That is why a jail-injury case that would be blocked as a state negligence claim can go forward as a federal civil-rights claim.

The immunity fight still happens, just under different rules

Federal civil-rights cases have their own defense, called qualified immunity. An individual officer can ask to be dismissed by arguing that the right he is accused of violating was not "clearly established" at the time. These arguments are often raised early and appealed immediately, which is why the Richardson case took nearly five years to reach a trial date. Families need to understand that going in. These are not quick cases.

A county itself cannot claim qualified immunity, but it is liable under Section 1983 only for its own policies, customs, or failures in training and supervision, not simply because it employed the officer. Building that kind of claim means gathering evidence about how the jail operated, not just about one bad night.

What wins these cases: video, medical records, and people who saw it

Look at what the reports emphasize. In Richardson's case, jail surveillance video captured the incident. In Guglielmo's case, part of the dispute was about who stood in front of the camera. Video often decides a jail case, and jail video is routinely overwritten on a schedule unless someone demands that it be preserved.

The other key evidence is medical: jail medical charts, the records of any outside hospital, and expert testimony connecting the force used to the injuries. In Guglielmo's case, the county argued his injuries came from somewhere else. A disputed cause is answered with medical evidence and timelines.

Finally, other people in custody see and hear things. Their names and current locations matter, and they become harder to find every week after they are released or transferred.

When a death occurs: the wrongful-death side of the case

Richardson's case was a death case. Under Ohio law, a wrongful-death action is brought by the personal representative of the estate for the benefit of the surviving spouse, children, and parents, and a settlement on their behalf usually has to be approved by the probate court. Reports on the Richardson settlement noted exactly that: the agreement had to pass through probate proceedings before it became final. Our wrongful death practice handles both the civil claim and the probate-court approval so that a family is not left to navigate the second court on its own.

This is different from injuries in a state prison. A claim against the State of Ohio generally belongs in the Ohio Court of Claims, as I discussed in an earlier post about a paralyzing prison injury. County jails and city lockups are political subdivisions, and the federal civil-rights route is usually the one that matters.

What this means for you

If you or a family member was seriously hurt or died while in a county jail, a city holding facility, or police custody, here is what these settlements show:

• The government can be held accountable. Ohio's immunity statute does not shield constitutional violations.
• Serious injuries carry real value. Lifetime care costs, lost earning ability, and the loss of a parent are all part of the damages.
• Time matters in two ways. Video and witnesses disappear fast. And Section 1983 claims arising in Ohio generally must be filed within two years.
• These cases are hard and slow. Expect an immunity fight and possibly an appeal before trial.

Government-defendant cases follow different rules from a typical crash claim. Earlier this year I wrote about a police-driving case where immunity fell away and a jury awarded $7.7 million, and our claims against the government page explains the immunity rules that apply to cities, counties, and townships.