Former Prisoner Receives $50,000 Settlement for Beating by Ohio Jail Guard
Former Prisoner Receives $50,000 Settlement for Beating by Ohio Jail Guard
by Derek Gilna
Jordan Sand, 18, previously incarcerated at the Lorain County jail in Elyria, Ohio as a juvenile offender, received a $50,000 settlement from the county after he was brutally assaulted in 2012 by former guard Marlon Taylor. Sand, who was completing the balance of his juvenile sentence at the facility, was in the process of being moved to the “hole” by Taylor for refusing to take his anti-depressant medication when words were exchanged. Taylor then hit Sand, knocking him down.
Security cameras captured Taylor striking Sand, who curled up on the floor in a fetal position and did not attempt to fight back. Other jail deputies intervened and Taylor was fired in October 2012. [See: PLN, Jan. 2013, p.50].
In an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Lorain County, Sand alleged violations of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as his rights under Ohio common law, alleging that Taylor had assaulted him without provocation in a “wanton and reckless manner,” inflicting severe bodily injury, and that he had received no medical care from jail officials during the two weeks he was held in solitary confinement following the incident.
The October 2013 settlement between Sand, Lorain County, Sheriff Phil R. Stammitti and Taylor did not provide for an admission of wrongdoing. Criminal charges initially filed against Taylor by the county prosecutor were dismissed without prejudice; he was later charged in federal court, pleaded guilty and received an 18-month prison sentence on January 14, 2014. [See: PLN, Sept. 2014, p.56].
Sand’s attorneys had alleged in their complaint that the assault by Taylor was caused in part due to ineffective training and supervision of jail staff by the sheriff, and that jail officials were negligent in not ensuring that Sand received appropriate medical care after he was assaulted and injured. See: Sand v. Lorain County, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ohio), Case No. 1:13-cv-01894-DAP.
Additional source: http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com
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Related legal case
Sand v. Lorain County
| Year | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ohio), Case No. 1:13-cv-01894-DAP |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 50,000.00 |