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| Washington settles prison death lawsuit |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/26/2001 |
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The Washington Department of Corrections has agreed to pay $245,000 to settle a lawsuit over the 1998 death of a mentally ill man at the prison in Monroe. The deal stems from the death of Charles Snipes, 32, who complained to prison staff of breathing problems and died in his cell hours later of a suspected heart attack. 'The size of the settlement to resolve this is clear recognition of the culpability for having caused his death,' said Darrell Cochran, the attorney representing Snipes' mother, Sharon Corner. The attorney for the state, however, said the settlement was approved to save taxpayers the cost of a trial. 'The settlement was reached because it was going to be emotionally difficult for the staff to go through the trial, to provide closure for his family, and to save the taxpayers the cost of trying this case,' said David Smith, the Seattle attorney representing the Department of Corrections. Snipes was widely regarded as a difficult prisoner, according to court documents. Obese, HIV positive, suffering from heart disease and schizophrenia, Snipes had spent nearly four years at the Special Offender Center, a part of the Monroe Correctional Complex dedicated to severely mentally ill inmates. Some prison staff had come to fear Snipes' outbursts and his penchant for throwing his own urine and feces at staff, something they interpreted as an effort to infect them with the HIV virus, according to the department investigation. On July 22, 1998, at about 6 p.m. on a day when the heat had outpaced the air conditioning, Snipes complained to an officer that he couldn't get any air. A nurse who was told of the complaint recommended he take a cold shower. An hour and a half later, a volunteer saw Snipes lying naked in his cell, and later told an officer that Snipes seemed 'really out of it tonight,' according to one report. At 9:30 p.m., an officer reported seeing Snipes lying on the floor, and asked the prisoner if he needed medical help. Snipes, according to the officer, declined. Over the next three hours, Snipes didn't respond to officers who called his name, banged on his door, or peered into his cell. Several staff people reported hearing him snoring or seeing him breathing. Shortly before 1 a.m., an officer noticed that Snipes had not moved in several hours, and alerted the medical staff. Unable to rouse him by yelling and banging on the doors, staff asked to go into his cell. A lieutenant told them to wait until he arrived at the scene. During the wait, a nurse resorted to trying to wake Snipes by squirting him with a water bottle and tossing water-soaked socks at him. At 1:27 a.m. staff entered Snipes' cell. He was declared dead immediately. In the wake of the incident, a team of investigators found that staff had failed to properly track past complaints from Snipes of chest pain and his refusal of medication to treat his mental illness. |
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