$284,500 Settlement in South Carolina Restraint Chair Death
$284,500 Settlement in South Carolina Restraint Chair Death
A $284,500 settlement was reached in the death of a pre-trail detainee at South Carolina’s Beaufort County detention center. The man’s estate, which consisted of his wife and four children, sued Beaufort County and its private medical vendor, Southern
Jesse Greer, 46, was arrested at a Greyhound bus station on December 27, 2007. He showed severe signs of mental distress and was injuring himself once in custody. On the evening of December 31, Greer began kicking and banging his head on his cell door. When he failed to follow guards’ orders to back away from the door, he was shot with pepper spray through the food port.
Rather than back up, Geer started licking the pepper spray. Guards forcibly removed him from the cell, forced a spit mask on him, and strapped him to a restraint chard. Moments afterwards, he was found unresponsive and pale. He was taken to a hospital, but on January 1, 2008, he was removed from life support and died.
An autopsy revealed he died as “The result of excited delirium, likely due to chronic methamphetamine use.” His estate argued that his death was caused by asphyxiation due to the restraint chairs chest straps being too tight and causing compression that interfered with his ability to breath. It also asserted that his obvious signs of mental distress were not properly addressed.
The August 4, 2011, settlement provides a $192,000 payment from Southern Health Partners and $92,500 from Beaufort County. The estate was represented by attorneys James A. Brown, Jr., and Thomas A. Killoren, Jr. The case was originally filed in federal court.
See Greer v. County of Beaufort, No. 2009-CP-07-05542 (USDC, D. S.C. 2011).
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Related legal case
Greer v. County of Beaufort
| Year | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Cite | No. 2009-CP-07-05542 (USDC, D. S.C. 2011) |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 284,500.00 |