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| Family Gets $600,000 in Calif. Inmate Death |
| By The Fresno Bee |
| Published: 03/10/2003 |
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The family of a Pleasant Valley State Prison inmate shot and killed by an officer in 1998 has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit for $600,000. The wife, daughter and parents of Octavio Orozco, a 23-year-old inmate who was gunned down during a dining hall fight at the Coalinga-area prison, accused the California Department of Corrections of lying and covering up during its investigation of the death. 'It's important that people know the CDC had another bad shooting and had to pay for it,' said Fresno lawyer Catherine Campbell who, along with attorney Robert Navarro, represented the Orozco family. Campbell and Navarro are the same legal team that represented the family of Preston Tate, a Corcoran State Prison inmate fatally shot April 2, 1994. The Tate lawsuit, also filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno, ended with an $825,000 settlement. Tate's death also focused a national spotlight on the California prison system and prompted a federal criminal investigation that resulted in the indictment of eight Corcoran correctional officers on criminal charges of staging inmate fights for sport. All eight officers were acquitted by a federal jury after a two-month trial. Margot Bach, a Sacramento spokeswoman for the CDC, said the Orozco case 'was settled in the interest of both parties.' As for criticisms in the lawsuit of the prison system and treatment of prisoners, Bach said, 'People do this frequently. It was in the interest of both sides to settle ... with no more costs for either.' The Orozco lawsuit charged that a 'code of silence' exists within the California prison system 'that covers up the illegality ... and illegal acts against prisoners.' Orozco, who was from Southern California, was serving a nine-year sentence for dealing drugs and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. He was fatally shot during a dining hall fight between 'black inmates and southern Hispanic inmates' on May 7, 1998, in the Coalinga-area prison. The lawsuit, filed in 1999, said it was unclear whether Orozco was involved in the fight, moving toward it or watching it when he was shot by prison officer Bruce Brumana. However, at the time of the shooting, Lt. E.B. Jones, a prison spokesman, said Orozco and two other inmates had started the melee in the dining hall by attacking another inmate. About 200 prisoners were eating dinner in the room when trouble began. Navarro said Orozco was not part of the fight, but was moving toward it when he was shot. The shooting was investigated for possible charges, but the Fresno County District Attorney's Office decided against bringing a criminal complaint, either against the officers or the inmates. |
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