Above Photo: ERIC THAYER / REUTERS
Note: Elliott Williams was someone who should not have even been in jail. Instead, the mentally ill African American man, a military veteran with bipolar disorder, was pepper sprayed and arrested before a medical unit arrived. When the judge ruled that the lawsuit against the sheriff’s office could go forward he described his jail cell as a ‘burial crypt;’
“After more than five days on the concrete floor of his jail cell, Elliott Williams died naked, cold and alone, unable to move.
“Hungry and thirsty, Williams screamed for help but couldn’t convince anyone at Tulsa’s David L. Moss Detention Center to help him.
“Detention officers at the Tulsa Jail tossed three styrofoam trays of jail food at his feet, but Williams could not retrieve them. Though Williams begged for something to drink, he couldn’t pick up the styrofoam cups of water they placed near him.
“One day turned to two, three and four days. On the fifth day, none of the jail’s staff bothered to enter Williams’ cell, Medical Cell #1.
“The jail’s medical staff began to wonder if Williams might actually be paralyzed from a broken neck. . . “
Those responsible did nothing. They essentially watched him die on the jail video camera. The judge found ‘deliberate indifference’ in letting the civil rights suit go forward. Obviously, the jury agreed as can be seen in the article below. No one has been held accountable for the death of Elliott Williams while in the custody of the sheriff. In July 2016 the media reported “The Williams case is one of at least a dozen civil rights lawsuits against the county for deaths and serious injuries in the jail. Verdicts against the county in the Williams case, or any of the other suits, could cost county taxpayers millions. Earlier this year, a jury found against the county, ruling that the Sheriff’s Office deliberately indifferent, in the first of these cases to reach trial stage.”
The prediction of millions of dollars in damages has now come true. KZ
Federal jury rules in favor of tortured to death Army veteran.
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Jurors have awarded the family of Elliott Williams more than $10 million after a wrongful death lawsuit against the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Williams died in the Tulsa County Jail in 2011.
Lawyers for Williams’ family argued the sheriff’s department violated his civil rights when deputies left him on the jail floor with a broken neck.
After a three-week trial, jurors found in favor of Williams’ family, awarding them $10 million from Tulsa County and another $250,000 from former Sheriff Stanley Glanz.
The family’s attorney, Dan Smolen, says finding the jail responsible for Williams’ death was the only conclusion a jury could reach.
“They’ve had to really endure a lot,” said Smolen. “Not only the way that Elliott died, but over the last years the way the county treated them, the way the county defended the case, the mentality of the county I felt like was indifferent not only to Elliott but when the county has been indifferent to the problem that exists in the jail for decades.”
MORE | Jail under scrutiny after inmate’s death
Surveillance video captured the last hours of Williams’ life as he lay paralyzed on his jail cell’s floor. It was crucial evidence, according to the family’s attorney.
“Without Elliott’s death being videotaped, people still would have viewed it as they’re just inmates, they were probably sick when they were in there,” said Smolen.
The family asked for $51 million in damages.
“No amount of money can bring him back. I’m still sad, because they needed a bigger impact than this,” said Kevin Williams, Elliott’s brother. “I’m still sad the fact that my brother is not here, but I’m satisfied for their decision.”
According to Tulsa County Clerk Michael Willis, judgments against the county are paid from the sinking fund over a three-year period. The sinking fund receives revenue from property (ad valorem) taxes.
Willis says in cases where judgments are certified, the ad valorem taxes are adjusted to pay the costs associated with the judgment, meaning property taxes could go up.
But the county could avoid paying anything thanks to an indemnification clause in the contract with the county’s medical provider, Correctional Healthcare Companies. It remains to be seen if the county will try to make use of the clause.