$1.2 Million for New York Prisoner Waterboarded by Guards
On March 25, 2025, the federal court for the Northern District of New York granted dismissal to a suit filed by former state prisoner Matthew Raymond, after he accepted a $1.2 million settlement from the state Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) for an alleged violent assault by guards in September 2016 at Auburn Correctional Facility
Raymond, then 28, was serving a sentence for a conviction on a 2015 burglary charge on September 14, 2016, when he had a seizure triggered by a traumatic brain injury suffered in an earlier fall. Guards transported him to a local hospital, where he was recovering but still in a disoriented “postictal” state when he roused and overheard guards complaining about working overtime. The next time he woke, they were holding him down; one accused him of spitting blood on them.
A group of Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) guards arrived and hauled him to a prison van. Someone struck him in the back of the head; he began having another seizure. A CERT guard held Raymond on the floor of the van with his hand to the prisoner’s throat until they arrived back at the prison, and he was taken to the medical unit, staffed by nurse Aimee Hoppins. Raymond was still handcuffed and shackled when he saw the uniform worn by Lt. Troy Mitchell and thought that the supervisor would intervene on his behalf.
Instead, Mitchell struck him with a baton and pulled his shirt up over his head before pouring water over his face. According to the complaint Raymond later filed, Mitchell ordered fellow guards to spread the prisoner’s thighs before he “forcefully grabbed and twisted” his genitals. The assault stopped only when a guard realized that Raymond really was having a seizure. He was dragged by his hair to an elevator, where he overheard guards discussing whether to kill him to cover their tracks. Instead, they wrote him up for a fabricated assault.
Raymond reported the incident, but an Office of Special Investigations (OSI) agent spent just a few minutes interviewing him before issuing a one-page report finding “insufficient evidence to corroborate the allegation.” Another prisoner filed similar allegations months later, but OSI dismissed those, too. Raymond’s complaint noted some $800,000 that DOCCS had paid to settle complaints made against Mitchell by prisoners and fellow guards. The guard was never disciplined, though he was eventually allowed to retire. When Raymond was finally treated for injuries that he suffered during the assault, he had to have reconstructive bladder surgery; he also “may never have kids again,” according to his amended complaint.
The prisoner filed his suit in late 2018, so it wasn’t far along before it was delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Then the New York Daily News ran a front-page article about the case and payouts made by DOCCS to settle complaints against Mitchell—payouts that by then had swelled to more than $1 million. Raymond said that the coverage saved him “from another beating or death.” It also kickstarted his lawsuit, which proceeded to a motion by Defendant DOCCS officials to dismiss the complaint. That was largely denied on June 11, 2024. See: Raymond v. Mitchell 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103265 (N.D.N.Y.). The parties then proceeded to reach their settlement agreement.
Fees and costs remain to be determined for Raymond’s attorneys, Katherine R. Rosenfeld and Samuel Shapiro of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP in New York City. Meanwhile, Raymond has finally found some measure of justice for that beating nearly a decade ago. “I know what it’s like to be on a fucking table, chained up, immobilized and to be beaten nonstop,” he told The City. “It’s not OK. It ruined my life.” See: Raymond v. Mitchell, USDC (N.D.N.Y.), Case No. 9:18-cv-01467.
Additional source: The City
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Related legal case
Raymond v. Mitchell
| Year | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103265 (N.D.N.Y.) |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |