BOP Prisoner States FTCA Claim for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Stemming from Burning Prison by The plaintiff sustained carbon monoxide poisoning while locked down during a fire started during a riot. The Clinical Director ordered that he remain in the prison medical facility rather than be sent to a hospital. Six …
Prosecutorial Misconduct Claims Properly Brought as Post-Conviction Motion if Timely by Tennessee state prisoner Darrell Wentzel filed a pro se motion for review of his convictions after they were affirmed on direct appeal. His 2001 "motion for extraordinary relief" was treated as a post-conviction petition, and dismissed as statutorily time …
Justification Required for Denial Under Tennessee Public Records Act by Tennessee state prisoner J. Hickman appealed the Davidson County Chancery Court's dismissal of his pro se motion to obtain documents from the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole (Board) pursuant to the state's Public Records Act (Act), Tenn. Code Ann. …
Felony Conviction Prevents Public Records Request by Tennessee Prisoner; Reversed by Tenn. Supreme Court Ruling by Tennessee state prisoner Stewart Pait appealed the dismissal of his action to compel the City of Gatlinburg and its Police Chief (defendants) to produce records concerning his criminal conviction. Only certain documents were produced, …
State Carries Burden of Justifying Nondisclosure of Documents Requested by Tenn. Felons by Tennessee state prisoner Jerry Cammuse appealed a court ruling denying his 1997 pro se request for documents pursuant to the state’s Public Records Act (PRA), Tenn. Code Ann. § 10 7 503(a). The trial court ruled that …
Tennessee DA Ordered to Produce Requested Documents to Prisoner Absent Statutory Exemption by Tennessee state prisoner Raymond Rutter appealed the 2003 dismissal of his action to compel District Attorney H. Greeley Wells, Jr. (DA), to produce documents he had requested pursuant to the state’s Public Records Act, Tenn. Code Ann. …
Remote Sex Conviction Cannot Support Sex Offender Treatment Condition by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a 17-year-old conviction was too remote in time to warrant a special supervised release condition mandating sex offender treatment, but left open whether a more recent stalking conviction warranted imposition of …
$100,000 Awarded Daughter Of Man Negligently Killed By Nashville Police by Tennessee resident Angela Rhodes, representing her daughter, Angela Denham, brought is against the Metropolitan Government of Davidson County after her father, James Denham, was accidentally shot and killed in 2005. The suit settled for a meager $100,000. James Denham …
Second-Degree Escape Considered Violent for ACCA Sentence Enhancement Purposes by Tennessee federal prisoner Collis Lancaster, Jr., appealed his sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) after the court classified a prior second-degree escape in Kentucky as a violent offense. His sentence was affirmed because an escape was considered …
Sixth Circuit Reverses Denial of Complaint Amendment by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s order denying a Tennessee prisoner leave to amend his complaint to substitute actual parties for Doe Defendants. In July 1996, Tennessee prisoner Alexander Friedmann (PLN’s Associate Editor) requested to have a notice …
CCA Attempts Cover-Up of Assault by Warden at Tennessee Prison by Alex Friedmann Late last year, a prisoner at the CCA-operated Hardeman County Correctional Facility (HCCF) in Tennessee notified PLN that the prison’s warden, assistant warden and internal affairs officer had either resigned or been fired or transferred. The staff …
$2 Million Confidential Settlement In CCA Prisoner’s 2004 Beating Death Revealed by Alex Friedmann $2 Million Confidential Settlement In CCA Prisoner's 2004 Beating Death Revealed by Alex Friedmann PLN has previously reported on the death of Estelle Richardson, a mentally ill prisoner who died at the CCA-operated Metro-Davidson County Detention …
Tennessee Court Enjoins Prisoner's Litigation by The court publishes its order re filing fees, finds the case frivolous, declares the plaintiff subject to the three strikes rule, and then imposes a requirement that she seek leave of court to file any future actions The court says that 1915(g) has lowered …
No Qualified Immunity for Jail Guard Who Ignored Suicidal Prisoner Tying Noose Around Neck by The decedent hanged himself after being arrested for irrational behavior under the influence of drugs. His mother, a Ph.D. clinical psychologist, said two months later that he was not suicidal when she spoke with him …
Wisconsin Prisoner Loses Claim Over Transfer to Private Prison in Tennessee by The plaintiff, a Wisconsin prisoner housed in a private prison in Tennessee, filed an "irregular document" with no filing fee or IFP application, asserting that by transferring him Wisconsin had relinquished jurisdiction over him, entitling him to release. …
