×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Utah DOC Settles Wrongful-Death Suit Involving Exonerated Suspect For $150,000
Loaded on Feb. 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
February, 2006, page 38
by Michael RigbyOn September 29, 2004, the widow of a one-time suspect in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping settled her wrongful-death lawsuit against the Utah Department of Corrections (DOC) for $150,000.
When 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002, police were desperate …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Incompetence, Brutality and Scandal Infest Tennessee Prisons and Jails
- Private Prisons Bilk $13 million From Florida; State Awards More Contracts, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- 8th Circuit Invalidates BOP Halfway House Policy; 7th Circuit Says Challenge Not Cognizable on Habeas
- Private Prison Contractor Who Allegedly Diverted $1.6 Million in Telephone Revenues Sues California DOC
- Florida Prisoner's Disciplinary Challenges Reversed for Further Proceedings
- BOP's Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Treatment Nets Downward Departure Sentence
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Judgment on Denial of Methadone
- Second Circuit Upholds Guard's Rape Sentence Under Federal Guidelines
- Washington DOC Must Ship Prisoners' Property For Free
- Maryland's PHS Prison Health Care Under Fire, New System Implemented
- 2005 Audit of California Parole Board Reveals Ongoing Deficiencies
- Habeas Hints: How to Get DNA Testing, by Kent Russell
- Prison Reform Revisited: The Unfinished Agenda, Pace University Law Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring 2
- Arkansas Considers Prison Rape Law, Problems Evident
- Florida's Privatization of Prisoner Canteen Services Under Scrutiny
- Oregon Criminalizes Sex with Prisoners; & Other Legislative Developments
- If the Shoe Fits: Did Colorado Prison Officials Look the Other Way While a Guard's Fetish Turned Vio, by Alan Pendergast
- New York Prisoner Attacked On Bus Awarded $600,000
- Whistleblowers Nail Cheating California Corrections Employees
- Florida DOC's No Bid Pharmaceutical Contract Scrutinized and Criticized
- Bait and Snitch: The High Cost of Snitching for Law Enforcement
- Chicago Settles Another Jail Brutality Suit for $362,500
- Federal District Court Awards Missouri Prisoner $2,500 For Excessive Force
- Nebraska Native American Prisoners' Religious Program Reinstated, by John Dannenberg
- All Alone in the World: Children of the Incarcerated
- California and Connecticut Reinstate Jobs of Fired Guards
- Court Halts Practice of California Prison Guards Getting Unlimited Paid Time to Conduct Union Busine
- Kentucky Prisoner Injured In Transport Vehicle Awarded $9,000
- Florida Jury Awards $225,000 in False Arrest/Malicious Prosecution Claim
- American Bar Association Recommends Expanded Prisoner Telephone Access
- U.S. Supreme Court: Faretta Does Not Establish Right Of Pro Se Defendant to Law Library Access
- Massachusetts Prisoner Awarded $250,000 for Assault During Strip Search
- Shackling of Women Prisoners During Labor and Delivery Ended In California
- Poor Substance Abusers Imprisoned En Masse Without Treatment, by Michael Rigby
- Prisoners Labor at Wisconsin Wal-Mart Site
- Utah DOC Settles Wrongful-Death Suit Involving Exonerated Suspect For $150,000
- Georgia DOC Settles Failure-To-Protect Suit for $15,000, by Michael Rigby
- Company Uses Prison Slave Labor for $100 Million Military Contract
- NY State Prisoner Receives $400,000 Liver Transplant
- Registered Sex Offenders Murdered By Vigilante in Washington
- New York Prisoner Awarded $2,500 for Delayed Eyeglasses
- News in Brief
- Low Pay Drives Tennessee Guards to Smuggle Drugs, Contraband into Prisons
More from these topics:
- $11 Million Paid by Boston to Exonerated Prisoner for 37-Year Wrongful Incarceration, Sept. 1, 2026. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Monell Liability, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
- Detroit Pays $5.8 Million to Former State Prisoner Exonerated of Murder After 15 Years, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Eyewitness Identification, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
- $13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Illinois Prisoner Tortured to Confess by Corrupt Cops, Aug. 1, 2026. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Certificate of Innocence, False Imprisonment, Confessions - Coerced.
- Louisiana Supreme Court Announces Framework Governing Factual Innocence Claims in First Application of La. C.Cr.P. Art. 926.2, Holding Second-Step Review Encompasses All Relevant Evidence, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Forensic Sciences, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Expert and Opinion Testimony, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
- Conviction Tossed for Former Alabama Prisoner Paroled After 42 Years, July 1, 2026. Sex Offender Registration, Wrongful Conviction, Forensic Sciences, Eyewitness Identification, Brady Rule violations.
- California Supreme Court Limits Money Bail for Nonviolent Charges, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Due Process, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Pretrial Detention and Detainees.
- Oregon Supreme Court: Jail Credit Statute Focuses Upon Legal Custody Not Physical Custody Location, July 1, 2026. Civil Procedure, Sentencing, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Criminal Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Louisiana’s Atavistic Approach to Criminal Sentencing and Parole Demonstrates Politicians’ Failure to Learn from Past Mistakes, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Parole, Prisoners' Rights.
- Your DNA Was at the Scene, But You Weren’t: How Touch DNA Is Convicting the Innocent, June 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Wrongful Conviction, DNA Evidence, Evidence - Admissibility, Claim of Innocence.
- Jury Awards Over $24.4 Million to Kentucky Prisoner Exonerated After 22 Years, Bringing Total Payout for Him and Co-Defendant to Almost $45 Million, June 1, 2026. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Monell Liability, Fabrication of Evidence, Failure to Disclose.

