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| Judge Signs $38.3 Million Judgment Against Correctional Services Corp. in Boot Camp Death Case |
| By Tampa Bay Business Journal |
| Published: 09/29/2003 |
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Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery has signed a $38.3 million judgment against Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp. in a lawsuit over the death of an 18-year-old man who died at a Mansfield, Texas boot camp in 2001. The judgment, entered yesterday in Tarrant County's 236th District Court, includes $37.4 million in actual damages plus interest and $750,000 in punitive damages. In August, a Fort Worth jury awarded $35 million in actual damages and $5.1 million in punitive damages to the family of Bryan Alexander. The punitive damages were reduced in the judgment under Texas punitive damage caps. According to the lawsuit, Alexander died on Jan. 9, 2001, from a penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia while participating in a six-month boot camp program as a condition of his misdemeanor probation. Alexander chose the boot camp over jail time. He died after his pleas for medical attention were ignored for days. "This judgment sends a clear signal that the original verdict in this case was sound," says Jeff Kobs, a partner in Fort Worth's Kobs & Haney, who represented the Alexander family along with Fort Worth attorney Bill Lane. During trial, Kobs and Lane argued that Alexander's medical condition should have triggered a response from the boot camp nurse or other employees of CSC. Evidence in the case showed that Alexander experienced difficulty breathing and began coughing up blood at least five days before his death. CSC eventually transferred Alexander to a local hospital, but he died less than 36 hours after being admitted. Under Texas law, CSC has 30 days to appeal the judgment, ask for a new trial, or pay the $38.3 million judgment. If CSC appeals the judgment, state law would delay the payment of the judgment if CSC posts a $25 million bond. |
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