It has been reported that the mother of a 19-year-old woman who died while in custody at the Rolette County Jail in Rolla, North Dakota, from a drug overdose that was not properly treated has accepted the $2 million settlement offer from the county defendant. The mother filed her lawsuit in 2022 for the death of her daughter on June 4, 2020, naming two former correctional officers, medical providers, and the county as defendants.
After the teenager was found hallucinating by a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who was responding to a call regarding a woman yelling for help in the woods, she was brought to a local hospital, where she was improperly discharged despite needing further medical treatment, according to her mother’s lawsuit. The teenager was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and was brought to the county jail.
The lawsuit alleged that two correctional officers at the county jail failed to seek medical help for the teenager despite obvious signs that medical help was necessary (she reportedly struggled to stand on her own, she hit her head on the wall, she was observed speaking to people who were not present in her cell, she scratched her legs until they were raw, and she urinated on herself). The lawsuit alleged that other inmates repeatedly pressed the emergency call button but the two correctional officers allegedly watched TV in the control room. After midnight, when one correctional officer finally checked on her, she was found to be unresponsive but the correctional officer did not provide CPR and instead called his supervisor before calling for an ambulance. She was pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m., nine hours after arriving at the county jail. She allegedly died from methamphetamine toxicity “as the direct and proximate result of the deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs” while in the county jail, and due to the medical negligence of the hospital.
The correctional officers reportedly were charged with misdemeanor charges involving a public servant refusing to perform their duty, and they entered Alford pleas that acknowledged that the evidence was sufficient to convict them, while they maintained their innocence. The correctional officers reportedly were placed on unsupervised probation, after which their pleas were withdrawn and the charges dismissed once the probationary periods were satisfactorily completed. Their criminal files have reportedly been sealed.
The hospital reportedly entered into a confidential settlement of the claims against it. The North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund, which was formed in 1986 and works exclusively with North Dakota cities, counties, schools, and public entities, offering liability, auto, and public assets coverages, claims services, and risk management resources, will pay the $2 million settlement.
If you or a loved one were harmed due to the lack of appropriate medical care while in jail in North Dakota or in another U.S. state, you should promptly seek the legal advice of a North Dakota jail malpractice lawyer or a jail malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your jail medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a jail medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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