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Los Angeles County Prisoner Hit With Clothes Settles For $50,000

On January 2, 2002, Robert K. Moore, a former prisoner in a Los Angeles
County (California) jail, settled his claim against the county for
$50,000. Moore had alleged he suffered a scrotal hernia when a deputy
sheriff hit him in the groin with a bundle of clothes.

Moore was arrested on various misdemeanor charges and taken to Los Angeles
County's central jail. While proceeding through the shower area as part of
the intake process, a deputy sheriff threw Moore's jail clothes at him.
The clothes, which were tied in a bundle weighing approximately five
pounds, hit Moore in the groin area, knocking him to the floor. Moore
initially said nothing of the incident because he was embarrassed and
feared retaliation by the deputies.

However, after two weeks the pain in Moore's scrotum became so severe that
he was forced to seek medical attention. Moore was issued a scrotum
support. The following day, Moore notified a deputy sheriff of the
incident and a report was made. The report included a corroborating
statement from another prisoner.

After he was released from jail, Moore sued the County of Los Angeles for
assault and battery, negligence, and civil rights violations claiming that
the deputy intentionally threw the clothes bundle at him. According to
Moore, two deputies admitted during their depositions that clothes bundles
had been thrown at prisoners by deputies in the past, which indicated a
pattern of negligent misconduct.

Represented by Greg W. Garrotto and Jana Gordon Garrato of the Los Angeles
Law Offices of Greg W. Garrotto, Moore settled his claim for $50,000. See:
Moore v. County of Los Angeles, Superior Court of Los Angles County,
Central, Case No. BC 234 813.

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Related legal case

Moore v. County of Los Angeles

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