National Roundup

Minnesota
County agrees to $12.2 million settlement with man who lost his hands in jail
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota county agreed to pay a $12.2 million settlement to a man who was jailed on suspicion of drunken driving but ended up losing both his hands and suffering a heart attack, a stroke and skin lesions all over his body, allegedly due to the inaction of officials in the county jail, attorneys said Wednesday.

Terrance Dwayne Winborn spent about four months in hospitals, including two months on a ventilator, because Scott County jail officials failed during the 39 hours he was incarcerated to ensure he got the prompt treatment he needed, his lawyers said at a news conference.

It’s a case that highlights the vulnerability of prisoners who are dependent on authorities for medical care.

The attorneys said the settlement will cover the more than $2 million in medical bills Winborn has already incurred — a sum which they said the county didn’t cover — as well as the millions he’ll need for ongoing care. The county’s insurance plan will cover the settlement.

“That deliberate indifference allowed a bacterial infection to run rampant within his body, leading to a heart attack ... and a host of other devastating and permanent injuries,” attorney Katie Bennett told reporters.

Jason Hiveley, an outside lawyer who handled the case for Scott County, said in a brief statement that the county and its insurer, the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust, agreed to the settlement in exchange for dismissal of Winborn’s lawsuit and a release from his claims. The statement did not say whether the county still denies any wrongdoing.

Winborn’s attorneys played a video showing his difficulties in adapting to life without hands, including feeding himself. He said he eats two meals a day because three takes too much work.

Winborn, from the southwestern Minnesota city of Marshall, was arrested in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee in the early hours of Aug. 27, 2020. His blood alcohol content measured 0.13% at the jail, according to the lawsuit he filed last year. The legal limit for driving is 0.08%. Late that morning, after his blood alcohol content returned to zero, he began vomiting.

He was unable to stand up that morning when a jail nurse came by for a COVID-19 check, the complaint said. She noted that his right hand was “extremely swollen,” and that he had trouble answering questions. On a second visit, around midday, the nurse was unable to measure his blood oxygen level but still did not attempt to get him emergency care. By the time a corrections officer drove Winborn to a Shakopee hospital the evening of Aug. 28, his condition was even worse.

Personnel at the suburban hospital were so concerned that they sent him by ambulance that night to a bigger hospital in Minneapolis, where he was put in intensive care, the complaint said. Doctors amputated his hand and part of his forearm two days later after necrotizing fasciitis set in, a condition popularly known as flesh-eating bacteria. It’s a rare condition in which marauding bacteria run rampant through tissue. Affected areas sometimes have to be surgically removed to save the patient’s life.

By the time Winborn was transferred to a nursing home that November, his weight had dropped from his normal 180 pounds to 126 pounds (82 kilograms to 57 kilograms). Another infection led doctors to amputate his left arm below the elbow that December.

The complaint also said jail videos that could have provided important evidence were destroyed after 90 days because officials took no action to preserve them — despite knowing about the severity of Winborn’s injuries and the potential for litigation. Jail officials stated in their depositions that they c­ouldn’t remember what happened.

California
Attorneys announce $7M settlement in fatal shooting by patrol officers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A $7 million settlement has been reached with the California Highway Patrol in the fatal shooting of a driver and wounding of his girlfriend during a 2020 traffic stop in Oakland, lawyers for the man’s family and the survivor said Wednesday.

Erik Salgado, 23, who was driving a car that had been reported stolen, was killed and his pregnant girlfriend was wounded by officers after Salgado struck CHP vehicles in front of and behind while attempting to maneuver away from them on June 2, 2020.

John Burris, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys announcing settlement of a federal court lawsuit, said in a statement that the shooting was “inhumane and a reckless disregard for human life.”

A March 2022 report by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said officers fired when they believed one officer had been or was about to be struck by the car. The report said that while questions remained as to the use of force, there was a lack of evidence and independent witnesses to proceed with criminal charges.

Then-District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley said in a letter to the Highway Patrol that she agreed that the evidence did not justify criminal charges.

A telephone message seeking comment from the Highway Patrol on the settlement was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

Arkansas
Police officer faces felony charge for shooting suspect
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Little Rock police officer was arrested Wednesday and charged with a felony in the shooting and wounding of a suspect who was fleeing after a traffic stop over the weekend.

Prosecutors charged Officer Johvoni McClendon with one felony count of first-degree battery and one misdemeanor count of first-degree assault in connection with the early Saturday morning shooting.

McClendon was relieved of duty after police said he shot Brenden Johnson, who drove away in a pickup truck officers had pulled over after locating nearby a stolen vehicle they had been pursuing earlier. Johnson had been hospitalized following the shooting.

Chief Heath Helton said the decision to relieve McClendon came after he reviewed body and vehicle camera footage from the shooting.

“There is no doubt the actions of Officer McClendon are outside the department’s policy related to the use of deadly force,” Helton said at a news conference announcing the charges. ‘“Due to the severity of the violations observed, I believe that it was imperative that immediate action be taken to protect the public, our internal policies and the law.”

McClendon pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Wednesday afternoon and was released on a $25,000 bond. Robert Newcomb, his attorney, declined to comment on the charges.