Failure to Check on Inmate Results in Death, $175,000 Settlement

Settlement/Verdict: $175,000.00

Attorney: Jeffrey M. Montpetit
Practice Area: Wrongful Death
Client Injury: Death

Our client's son was a 19-year-old man who was arrested for DWI. After the son was booked, given an alcohol breath test at the county jail and placed in his holding cell, he was left alone and unobserved for nearly two hours. The son hanged himself during that time. Surveillance video from the hallway outside the son's holding cell confirmed the jailers never checked on the son. This was a direct violation of Minnesota law and the jail's policy, which required inmates to be personally observed at least every 30 minutes, and intoxicated inmates to be personally observed at least every 15 minutes. In addition, the jail log was falsified; the log stated that rounds of the jail had been made, when the same surveillance video showed otherwise. Three jailers were administratively reprimanded by the county for their conduct.

Jeff Montpetit represented the son's father and sued the county, the jail's administrator and the three jailers involved. He alleged that their negligence caused the son to take his own life. The case settled at mediation for $175,000, which was disbursed between our client, the son's mother and the son's two sisters.

Contact the law offices of Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey for a free consultation. We encourage you to make this first step toward resolving your legal matters so that you can get back to your life.