The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has found support in a 2007 court filing that upholds its contention of wrongdoings in St. Louis’ municipal jails.
Dennis Allen filed suit in 2007 against the City of St. Louis, claiming that a correctional officer assaulted him and used excessive force while he was an inmate at the Medium Security Institute, better known as the Workhouse, in 2005.
The suit alleges that on September 29, 2005, Lt. Willie McMorris “maliciously” struck Allen, knocking him unconscious and causing permanent damage to his left eye.
The altercation stemmed from a dispute between the two men when McMorris ordered Allen, who was eating breakfast, to leave the dining room and allegedly threatened to throw him in the hole if he did not do so.
Although Allen complied, the suit alleges that another guard escorted Allen to the captain’s office, where McMorris “came within inches” of his face and continued to threaten him, saying, “I should punch you in the face.”
According to the suit, Allen told McMorris to get out of his face and McMorris then punched him, rendering him unconscious.
After Allen regained consciousness, the guards handcuffed him “so tightly” that “his wrists were bleeding as he was being lifted from the floor,” the suit alleges.
Allen received medical attention for his injuries and told the facility’s chief of security that he wanted to press charges against McMorris. Shortly thereafter, Allen said, he was placed in solitary confinement for 45 days and charged for threatening an officer.
Allen filed a civil suit against the City of St. Louis in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri on May 10, 2007. He claimed that McMorris, along with three other guards – Almeda Ball-Tyler, Russell Brown and Alice Pollard-Buckingham – fabricated the “assault charges against him,” concealed “true events” and placed “him into solitary confinement until his injuries healed.”
He sought compensation, for an undisclosed amount, for extreme emotional distress and violations of his constitutional rights.
According to Judge Stephen Limbaugh Sr.’s court findings, McMorris falsely accused Allen of assault and violated his access to the facility’s grievance procedure by placing him in solitary confinement. Limbaugh added that McMorris used excessive and malicious force in the situation.
A settlement was reached on July 14, 2008, for $1,000 in Allen’s favor. In exchange, the suit against the officers was dropped.
‘Need for further investigation’
The court case mirrors contentions in a recent report, “Suffering in Silence: Human Rights Abuses in St. Louis Correctional Centers,” the ACLU said in a statement.
The scathing preliminary investigation alleges there is “endemic abuse” and “patterns of policy violation in St. Louis’ jails,” including physical abuse, sexual misconduct, false reporting, medical neglect, intimidation and improper living conditions.
“Since the report’s release, six people have come forward publicly to insist that our description of jail conditions is accurate,” ACLU-EM Executive Director Brenda Jones said in a written statement.
“Judge Limbaugh’s ruling in Allen v. City of St. Louis reinforces our contention that there is indeed a pattern of misconduct as our informants alleged. While the judge’s findings are not final statements of fact, they highlight the need for further investigation by independent authorities.”
The ACLU’s report accused McMorris of being involved in three separate incidents of physical abuse, including assaulting a juvenile inmate because he “made a joke about a CO,” according to “CO2” in the report. “CO3” alleges witnessing “a guy in handcuffs where a Lieutenant banged” his “head into the bars.” She identified the lieutenant as McMorris.
Dennis Allen’s case can be found online at https://ecf.moed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/Allen_v._St._Louis,_Missouri,_The_City_of_et_al-SNL-53.pdf
David Kutrip’s story
David Kutrip tells of a similar story of wrongdoing. He was an inmate at the Workhouse from February to March 2003.
Upon arriving at the facility, Kutrip said, a CMS nurse took his crutches and leg brace per protocol for security reasons.
Kutrip’s wife, Tammy, said staff locked her husband in solitary confinement, letting him out only to take a shower and eat, because the jail did not have a cell that was handicap-accessible.
“They never let him out or never gave him a wheelchair or anything,” she said.
Days later, Kutrip slipped and fell in the shower – which was not handicap-accessible – seriously injuring his leg, hip and head. Medical records show Kutrip did not receive an evaluation until a month later. He lost 90 percent of his hearing as a result of the trauma to his head.
“Delayed evaluation of head injury leaves open the question of whether timely intervention by a physician and appropriate testing … would have altered the course of his progressive hearing loss after the fall,” medical legal consultant Thomas G. Adams concluded of Kutrip’s case.
Kutrip has sued the St. Louis City Justice Center, the City of St. Louis, Superintendent Eugene Stubblefield and Correctional Medical Services Inc. for pain and suffering and for his hearing loss.
“People need to know about this and people need to care about this,” Tammy said.
The family’s lawsuit is pending.
Stubblefield, who oversees the City jails, reports to Director of Public Safety Charles Bryson, a mayoral appointee, who reports directly to Mayor Francis G. Slay.
Stubblefield, Bryson and the Mayor’s Office repeatedly have declined to speak to the American about conditions in the City jail or failed to respond to requests.
To contact the ACLU regarding its investigation, call 314-652-3114.
For Jessica Bassett’s video interview with David Kutrip, go to wwww.stlamerican.com.