Missouri Judge Heavily Sanctions DOC for “Deliberate Disregard for the Authority of This Court” in Suit Over Prisoner’s Suicide
by Matt Clarke
On January 6, 2026, a Missouri circuit court struck the defenses of the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) as a sanction in a lawsuit over the suicide of a DOC prisoner. The reason for the sanction was the failure of the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) representing the DOC defendants to meet a single discovery deadline ordered by the court and his nonappearance at two hearings. The sanction meant that the DOC was liable for the prisoner’s death and left the amount of damages as the only remaining issue for a jury to determine with respect to the DOC defendants.
Jahi Hynes, 27, was serving a 13-year sentence for first-degree robbery at the DOC’s South Central Correctional Center when he informed mental health providers who were employees of Corizon Health (“Corizon”) that he had a history of mental health problems, including hospitalization for suicide attempts, and needed to “get back on medication for impulse control.” Corizon had contracted with the DOC to provide its prisoners with medical and mental health care.
Hynes told them he had previously been prescribed psychotropic medication but had not taken any for six or seven years. However, being housed in segregation was exacerbating his mental health disorders and he now needed medication.
According to court records, Corizon physicians did not prescribe Hynes any medication. Instead, they told him to “work more closely with his mental health counselor.” Subsequently, Hynes was transferred to the Southeast Correctional Facility. There, he received neither mental health care nor a mental health evaluation with the exception of one Corizon health technician talking to him at his cell for around five minutes.
After he received a disciplinary write up for blocking his cell’s food slot with a mattress and allowing the food slot to strike a guard, Hynes was forcibly removed from his cell and placed in an administrative segregation cell with no property except his boxer shorts per DOC policy on suicide prevention. However, in plain view of security cameras, various prisoners passed him a pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a bed sheet. Staff repeatedly failed to make the required cell checks every 30 minutes or remove the unauthorized property. Hynes hanged himself using the bed sheet. He was pronounced dead by EMS at the prison 20 minutes after he was found hanging.
Aided by St. Louis attorney Linda C. Powers, Willa Hynes, the mother of Jahi Hynes and representative of his estate, filed a lawsuit in state court alleging claims of wrongful death against the DOC, 13 DOC employees, Corizon, and two Corizon-derived entities, Tehum Care Services and YesCare Corp.
AAG Kevin Smith was assigned to represent the DOC defendants. According to Circuit Judge R. Zachary Horack, Smith “repeatedly offered excuses ranging from secretarial blame to Dropbox malfunctions and staffing issues” while “not a single deadline imposed by the court [for production of records] was met.” When the discovery delays progressed to Smith not showing up for hearings, Horack announced plans to sanction the DOC. Smith missed that hearing, too.
The sanction Horack imposed was the “civil death penalty,” striking the DOC’s defenses. This decided liability in favor of the plaintiff and left only the amount of damages in issue with respect to the DOC.
“Sanctions as a result of missing required court hearings are unacceptable and avoidable,” according to a statement issued by the Office of Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, which also said that Smith was no longer employed by the office. Previously, in April 2024, the DOC was ordered to pay over $55,000 in attorney fees and a $5,0000 penalty for improperly withholding public records of Hynes’s death as PLN reported. [See: PLN, July 2025, p.20.]. See: Hynes v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., Mo. Cir. (Mississippi Cty.), Case No. 24MI-CV00185.
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