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A federal jury found a private company running louisiana In 2015 the prison was responsible for the death of a man who died from head injuries while in custody, and the family was awarded more than $40 million in damages.
Lawyers representing the family of Ari Moore Sr. say they believe the verdict handed down this week in the Western District of Louisiana is one of the highest jury awards ever for an in-custody death in the US.
His son, Ari Moore Jr., said, “For the last 10 years, my sisters and I have been troubled knowing that he was not resting.”
Moore was a 57-year-old mill worker and father of three with no criminal history who was arrested on October 12, 2015, for disturbing the peace at a donut shop in Monroe, Louisiana.
According to court filings, Moore became “agitated and non-compliant” while being detained at Richwood Correctional Center. His attorney, Max Schoening, says Moore was “mentally unwell.”
Schoening says guards sprayed him with pepper spray at least eight times during the 36 hours he spent in prison.
court recordsFootage from prison security cameras, including footage presented as evidence and seen by the Associated Press, showed Moore being forcefully brought down by several guards. Other footage shows guards lifting Moore by his legs and handcuffed hands, when one guard stumbles and Moore falls headfirst to the ground.
Moore was then brought to a secluded area of the prison without security cameras. Court records show he was kept out of sight for about two hours, during which time no one called for medical attention.
“The jury found that the guards continued to use excessive force against Mr. Moore in a camera-free area,” Schoening said. “When sheriffs from another law enforcement agency arrived to pick him up for transport to another jail they found him unconscious and completely unresponsive.”
When Moore finally reached the hospital he was already in a coma and died about a month later, court records show. The Ouachita Parish Coroner ruled Moore’s death a homicide due to head injuries.
A federal jury found three guards liable for negligence, assault and excessive force. The jury also found LaSalle Management Company, which runs Richwood Correctional Center, liable for Moore’s death due to the negligence of at least one of its guards.
Schoening said no one has been criminally charged in Moore’s death.
The jury ordered LaSalle and Richwood to pay $23.25 million in punitive damages and Moore’s three adult children to pay $19.5 million in compensation.
“This is the largest compensatory damage award I’ve ever heard of,” said Jay Aronson. Carnegie Mellon University Professor and author of “Death in Custody: How” America “Ignore the truth and what we can do about it.”
The City of Monroe contracted the Richwood Correctional Center facility for its jail from 2001 to 2019. LaSalle, which is part of the same business enterprise as Richwood Correctional Center, operates detention facilities throughout Louisiana and texasCourt filings show.
Richwood Correctional Center now serves as a federal immigration detention site. Last year, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said LaSalle “is a critical part of ICE’s detention system.”
LaSalle did not respond to requests for comment sent to his lawyers or spokesman. The city of Monroe declined to comment.
Schoening said, “Erie Moore Sr.’s life was a gift to his family and community. LaSalle Management Company ended it with complete indifference.” “It is a testament to the love, courage and resilience of their children that, in the face of overwhelming odds, they won a historic victory for justice for their father and for civil rights in this country.”
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Brooke is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.