New Trial Ordered After Evidence of Set-Up Excluded by The Court of Appeals for Missouri has ordered a new trial in a case where a former prisoner alleged that he was set up by police. In 1985, Oren Gamble was charged with burglary based on information provided by Larry McCoy. …
Calls over Monitored Phone to Attorney not Protected by Sixth Amendment by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen has recommended the denial of a motion to suppress audio recordings obtained by the United States from CCA that contained attorney-client communications. While awaiting trial on federal charges, Gary Eye allegedly conspired …
Detainer Not Required To Receive Jail Time Credit by The filing of a detainer is not a prerequisite to receiving prior custody credit served on a related charge, the Court of Appeals of Missouri decided September 30, 2008. Carlos Mikel filed a declaratory judgment action against the Department of Corrections …
Missouri DOC Permits Gift Books in Response to PLN Demand Letter by On September 15, 2009, the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to revise its policy prohibiting prisoners from receiving books purchased for them by third parties or sent to them free of charge. The DOC also agreed to …
Injunction Against Missouri Sex Offender Halloween Restrictions Issued, Then Vacated by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A Missouri federal judge issued an injunction against enforcement of a new Missouri law imposing Halloween-related restrictions on registered sex offenders. However, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction on October 30, …
$1,000 Jury Award to Beaten Missouri Prisoner by A Missouri federal jury awarded a prisoner $1,000 on a state law battery claim. The award came after trial on several claims brought by Eugene Kenneth Jones-El for damages he incurred while imprisoned at Missouri’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center (ERDCC). …
Forced Catheterization to Perform Drug Test Constitutional by On May 15, 2008, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants in a § 1983 action filed by 68-year-old Missouri prisoner Joel LeVine. LeVine alleged that the defendants, a guard and …
Missouri Public Defenders Not Immune from Client Suits by In a case of first impression, the Missouri Court of Appeals held that state public defenders are not entitled to official immunity for acts committed during their representation of indigent criminal defendants. Missouri public defender Arthur Allen represented Bernardo Costa, an …
Allowing Others to Attack Prisoner, Making Credible Death Threats, Labeling Prisoner a Snitch Violate Eighth Amendment by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part a district court’s denial of qualified immunity to four guards accused of violating a prisoner’s Eighth Amendment rights. William Irving, a …
Prolonged Bench Restraint and Excessive Pepper Spraying Requires Trial by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a grant of summary judgment to prison officials in a prisoner’s lawsuit alleging Eighth Amendment violations when guards restrained him on a bench for 24 hours for refusing to accept a cell …
$150,000 Settlement In Missouri Jail Suicide Suit by On May 21, 2008, the Sheriff of Adair County, Missouri agreed to settle a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a prisoner who committed suicide while at the Adair County Detention Center (ACDC). The settlement requires the county to pay …
No Attorney’s Fees for Prevailing Defendants, Eighth Circuit Holds by On May 2, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed on award of attorney’s fees for a defendant in a civil rights action. After Charles Williams lost his civil rights action against the City of Carl …
Prisoner’s Family Wins Suit Against BOP Following Prisoner’s Suicide by The family members of Billy Joe Chilton filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(b) and 28 U.S.C. Sections 2671, et seq., as well as the Missouri Wrongful Death Statute, alleging that the Federal Bureau of …
Eighth Circuit Rejects Reckless Investigation Claim by On April 8, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit rejected a lawsuit brought by a former prisoner against a prison investigator for his role in the prisoner’s murder conviction and resulting death sentence. Joseph Amrine sued George Brooks, a …
Missouri Court Reverses $244,636 Incarceration Cost Award Against Prisoner by Mark Wilson Missouri Court Reverses $244,636 Incarceration Cost Award Against Prisoner by Mark Wilson The Missouri Court of Appeals has concluded that a factual dispute as to whether the state had “good cause” to seek reimbursement of incarceration costs barred …
Eighth Circuit: Missouri Prisoner Has Right to Elective Abortion by The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held that the Missouri Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) blanket policy of prohibiting the transport of female prisoners to outside medical facilities for elective, non-therapeutic abortions violated the Fourteenth Amendment. An anonymous MDOC …
Missouri DOC Ordered to Pay Ex-Prisoner $10,600 for Wrongful Imprisonment by On May 20, 2005, a federal jury in Eastern Missouri awarded ex-prisoner, Daryl Davis, $10,600 after corrections officials in that State failed to release him for almost 60 days after his court-ordered release. Convicted of theft in St. Louis …
Eighth Circuit Holds Failure of U.S. Parole Commission to Hold Early Termination Hearing Does Not Make Custody Illegal by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that 18 U.S.C. sec. 4211(c)(1) creates only a right to an early parole termination hearing, not a right to release in the absence …
Elderly Couple Awarded $345,000 for Excessive Force During Arrest by A jury in Missouri’s Jackson County Circuit Court has awarded an elderly couple $345,000 on a claim that Kansas City police used excessive force to arrest them. The jury only took three hours to render its May 9, 2008 verdict. …
Court Halts Missouri Physician-Overseen Lethal Injection Execution; Blows Doctor’s Cover by A “secret” Missouri surgeon who has supervised 54 prisoner executions had his cover pulled and suffered immediate peer criticism, court restriction, and a media barrage. In tension were the Hippocratic Oath of doctors to sustain the life of their …
