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| Court Rules for Jail Fire Victims |
| By The Charlotte Observer |
| Published: 03/13/2006 |
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The North Carolina Court of Appeals has refused to dismiss a claim by family members of five victims of the May 2002 Mitchell County jail fire, bringing the families a step closer to learning more details about what happened the night of the fire. The fire, on May 3, 2002, killed eight of the 17 inmates in the jail. In 2003, the families of four inmates who died in the fire and one who survived but was injured filed claims with the N.C. Industrial Commission. The families contended that the state Department of Health and Human Services had failed in their duty to properly inspect the jail and train inspectors. Health and Human Services asked the commission to dismiss the claims, saying the law protects state agencies that inspect public buildings such as jails from claims that they failed to protect the public. The commission disagreed, and in a ruling issued last week, so did a three-member panel of the appeals court. The state, through the Attorney General's Office, can appeal the ruling to the N.C. Supreme Court; the office was reviewing the ruling but hadn't decided whether to appeal, said spokeswoman Noelle Talley. |
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