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$90,000 Settlement in Utah Jail Suicide
On May 28, 1999, Salt Lake county, Utah, paid $90,000 to the family of a detainee who committed suicide in the county jail.
Henry Delgado was arrested on Jul 16, 1997, on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon. While held in the Salt Lake County jail's mental health unit Delgado used his shoelaces to hang himself from a showerhead on July 20, 1997.
Delgado's mother, six-year-old daughter and one-year-old son filed suit in federal court against the county claiming the jail showed deliberate indifference to Delgado's mental health needs under the Eighth Amendment The lawsuit claimed that Jail officials knew Delgado was suicidal but took him off suicide watch. After Delgado's death the jail changed its policies and no longer gives mental health unit prisoners shoes with laces.
Utah lawyers Brian Barnard and James Harris represented Delgado's estate. Barnard noted that the $90,000 settlement was low for a wrongful death suit, but Delgado did not have a significant work history which would have supported a higher claim for lost wages. Messrs. Barnard and Harris also represent PLN in censorship litigation against the Utah DOC and jails. see: Estate of Henry Delgado v. Salt Lake County, USDC D UT, Case No. 2:99-CV-39-B.
Henry Delgado was arrested on Jul 16, 1997, on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon. While held in the Salt Lake County jail's mental health unit Delgado used his shoelaces to hang himself from a showerhead on July 20, 1997.
Delgado's mother, six-year-old daughter and one-year-old son filed suit in federal court against the county claiming the jail showed deliberate indifference to Delgado's mental health needs under the Eighth Amendment The lawsuit claimed that Jail officials knew Delgado was suicidal but took him off suicide watch. After Delgado's death the jail changed its policies and no longer gives mental health unit prisoners shoes with laces.
Utah lawyers Brian Barnard and James Harris represented Delgado's estate. Barnard noted that the $90,000 settlement was low for a wrongful death suit, but Delgado did not have a significant work history which would have supported a higher claim for lost wages. Messrs. Barnard and Harris also represent PLN in censorship litigation against the Utah DOC and jails. see: Estate of Henry Delgado v. Salt Lake County, USDC D UT, Case No. 2:99-CV-39-B.
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Related legal case
Estate of Henry Delgado v. Salt Lake County
| Year | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC D UT, 2:99-CV-39-B |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 90000 |
| Injunction Status | N/A |