December 13, 2005  

County To Settle Lawsuit

Plaintiff Says Jail Neglected Inmate Who Died In Cell

By Crystal Owens
Item Staff Writer
cowens@theitem.com

Sumter County Council voted in an emergency session Monday night to settle the wrongful-death lawsuit brought against the former Sumter County Correctional Center.

The center, now known as Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center, "blatantly violated" its policies during the 30 hours the Rev. Ronel Huggins spent at the facility prior to being found dead in a cell four years ago, a witness for the plaintiff said Monday.

In his more than two hours on the stand, Dr. George L. Kirkham, a Lake Worth, Fla.-based police and private security consultant and expert witness hired by the plaintiff to research the case, told jurors that Huggins' death could have been avoided had employees at the jail met the standard of care required for inmates.

"They had chance after chance to save this man's life and nothing is done," he said. "It's very sad."

Council announced an emergency meeting about 7 p.m. Monday. It convened at 7:25 p.m. and immediately went into executive session with County Attorney Johnathan Bryan; John Jervey, a claims manager from the South Carolina Association of Counties; and attorney Jim Davis.

After 35 minutes, council returned from executive session and voted 6-0 to settle. Councilman Ronnie Eldridge was not present.

Details of the settlement were not released.

Jurors began listening to testimony in the wrongful-death trial Dec. 6 at the Sumter County Courthouse before 3rd Circuit Judge Howard P. King. The trial is expected to last throughout this week.

The suit, filed in 2003 in the Sumter County Court of Common Pleas by Virginia H. Fisher on behalf of Huggins' estate, named as defendants Tuomey physicians Luis Muniz, Martha Cushman and Richard Alexander; the hospital itself; the jail; and Eastern Health Care, the agency contracted by the jail in 2001 to provide medical care for its inmates.

The county's decision to settle does not affect the cases brought
against the Tuomey physicians, Tuomey Regional Medical Center or Eastern Health Care.

The family is seeking unspecified damages.

Huggins, a 43-year-old clergyman and pastor at Oaks AME Church in Summerton who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and Type II diabetes, was treated at Tuomey Regional Medical Center three times beginning Dec. 23, 2001, according to testimony.

He was arrested for indecent exposure Dec. 25 after taking off his pants in the hospital's waiting room.

Jail documents shown in court on Monday said the booking officer noted on Huggins' record that he was a possible "10-68," or mental subject, and should be watched. He was then placed in a cell for observation wearing a hospital gown.

Witnesses said Huggins had his hospital discharge sheet from his last visit to Tuomey, which said he should continue to take his prescribed medication and go for a follow-up visit with the Department of Mental Health. The sheet did not mention his diabetes.

Kirkham said the jail's log noted that Huggins was observed at least 70 times during 3½ shift changes, but employees never interacted with him.

"They're seeing him in there and they just walk on," he testified under questioning by plaintiff attorney Edward Bell. "In the meantime, you don't know what's going on with this man's body."

It's noted in the log that a naked Huggins was seen during the shifts either lying down or standing up. One entry at 7:15 p.m. said the inmate was seen shaking.

Huggins, the log said, was served meals, but there was no written indication that he ate his food.

Huggins was found dead about 2:25 a.m. on Dec. 27 by the jail staff. Rigor mortis had already set in.

Authorities said it's thought that Huggins died about 12:15 a.m. of ketoacidosis, a state of absolute or relative insulin deficiency aggravated by ensuing hyperglycemia, dehydration, and acidosis-producing derangements in intermediary metabolism. The most common causes are underlying infection, disruption of insulin treatment and new onset of diabetes.

Kirkham said the jail "ignored the obvious warning signs" and failed to get Huggins proper medical treatment by not notifying the on-call Eastern Health Care nurse to screen the inmate.

"They (the jail) have very standard, well-written policies," Kirkham said. "The problem is they're not following them."

Huggins' family reportedly came to the jail to see their loved one and tried to tell jail employees that he needed his medication.

In his cross-examination, attorney David Morrison attempted to discredit Kirkham by pointing out that the witness had been paid about $14,500 to research the case and testify on the plaintiff's behalf. Morrison said Kirkham was lacking in correctional experience.

Because Huggins was unresponsive, Kirkham said, he should have been evaluated by the jail staff and then either taken back to the hospital or, at a minimum, should have been seen by an Eastern Care nurse before being placed in a cell.

Morrison ask Kirkham if he expected the jail's booking officer to send the inmate back to the hospital that discharged him only to have the hospital send him back to jail.

"Well, what's a human life worth? Let's answer that question, first," Kirkham replied.

The trial is expected to continue today.