Plaintiff was a non-immigrant pretrial detainee at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP). On October 22, 1999, he filed a pro se 28 U.S.C. 1983 action in the Eastern District of Louisiana alleging misconduct and failure to provide adequate medical treatment by corrections officers

Plaintiff alleged that a fight that erupted between plaintiff and several Asian detainees held in OPP on behalf of the INS was instigated by a corrections officer. Plaintiff alleged that the corrections officer equipped the plaintiff with a weapon, and cleared experience guards out of the cellblock to enable him to attack the Asian detainees, with promises of benefits if he did attack the detainees. Plaintiff brought the action alleging that his injuries were the result of the defendant officer's and warden's negligence, that his 8th Amendment rights had been violated by the coercive instruction by the corrections officers threats/promises, and that the injuries suffered as a result thereof were unconstitutional.

After a bench trial, the Court (Magistrate Judge Joseph Wilkinson) found defendants not liable for all the Sec. 1983 claims. However, because the senior corrections officer escorted the first victim of the attack to the infirmary leaving the block staffed by a single, inexperienced officer, the court found the defendant warden liable for the escalation of the fight and plaintiff's resulting minor injuries under Louisiana tort law and entered judgment for the plaintiff for $200 on October 12, 2000.

Blase Kearney - 04/15/2012


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