Daughters of inmate get $350K

[DeniseJJ]

Daughters of inmate get $350K

The Associated Press



The two teenage daughters of James Carpenter, who died from a bacterial infection caused by shackles while being held at Mobile County jail three years ago, will receive about $350,000 each in the settlement of a lawsuit.

An FBI investigation into conditions at the jail began after Carpenter's death in July 2000. Carpenter, who had been arrested on misdemeanor charges, died from flesh-eating bacteria after being held in solitary confinement, naked and handcuffed, for most of 15 days.

One of the family's attorneys, Griffin Sikes Jr., described Carpenter as an itinerant preacher and a decent father who remembered the birthdays of his daughters, now 14 and 17. Sikes said Carpenter had fallen on hard times and had been diagnosed as psychotic the day before his final arrest.

According to court records, an autopsy showed that wounds caused by his restraints provided the entry points for the bacteria that killed him.

Reports showed that Carpenter never received psychiatric care, although jail employees said they were aware of his mental state, and that he never saw a judge for a bond hearing.

The total payout in the settlement is $1.45 million, the maximum under the insurance policies that cover the county, Sheriff Jack Tillman and jail employees, according to lawyers who presented the plan to a federal judge on Wednesday.

Half of the $1.45 million is to be paid to the plaintiffs' lawyers -- Sikes and Frank Hawthorne Jr. of Montgomery and Robert F. "Cowboy Bob" Clark of Mobile. Clark said Mobile lawyer Dom Soto also will receive some of the money.

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Butler Jr. said the settlement amount was fine with him, but he wanted to consider the attorneys' fees further.

[MiamiChica22]

How sad for his daughters. Seems like those attorneys fees are a little exhorbitant, I hope the judge trims them down a little.

[toi_ama]

Yeah-----HALF for the attorneys?????? That figures, though, huh? But it sickened me to read what happened to this guy. The flesh eating bacteria must have been very advanced to kill him. There should have been staff there fired and sued, too.