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$50,000 to Settle CA Jail Beating Suit
In April 2000, Sacramento county paid $50,000 to settle a prisoner's excessive force lawsuit that two Sacramento county jail guards, later fired for assaulting another prisoner, also beat him. Troyd Ransom was in the Sacramento county jail on a parole hold in February 1999, when guards Dan Berringer and Mark Clio shoved his head down during a strip search, then handcuffed him, threw him against a cell wall head first and repeatedly beat and punched him. Ransom was later taken to a local hospital for emergency treatment. The guards claimed Ransom had "provoked" the beating.
Berringer and Clio were later fired for beating another jail prisoner in a separate incident so badly that the prisoner had to have his left testicle removed. The county later settled that prisoner's lawsuit for $600,000.
Ransom filed suit, claiming Berringer and Clio violated his rights by beating him. The jail agreed to pay Ransom $50,000 to
settle the lawsuit and defended the settlement as "a fiscal decision." Captain David Lind, a commander at the Sacramento sheriff's office, which runs the jail, said the county settled because Ransom "had the good fortune of picking a fight with two deputies" later fired for assaulting another prisoner.
"The sad thing for the taxpayers is that this was a defensible case, except that the deputies had compromised their credibility in another case that ended their careers," Lind said. "We don't like it any better than the taxpayers." Apparently there is little concern for the taxpayers beaten and assaulted by violent jail guards. The sheriff's office had also determined that deputy Clio had lied about his role in the other attack. Ransom is incarcerated in the CDC on a parole violation. Neither of the deputies were ever prosecuted for their roles in the attacks.
Source: Sacramento Bee
Berringer and Clio were later fired for beating another jail prisoner in a separate incident so badly that the prisoner had to have his left testicle removed. The county later settled that prisoner's lawsuit for $600,000.
Ransom filed suit, claiming Berringer and Clio violated his rights by beating him. The jail agreed to pay Ransom $50,000 to
settle the lawsuit and defended the settlement as "a fiscal decision." Captain David Lind, a commander at the Sacramento sheriff's office, which runs the jail, said the county settled because Ransom "had the good fortune of picking a fight with two deputies" later fired for assaulting another prisoner.
"The sad thing for the taxpayers is that this was a defensible case, except that the deputies had compromised their credibility in another case that ended their careers," Lind said. "We don't like it any better than the taxpayers." Apparently there is little concern for the taxpayers beaten and assaulted by violent jail guards. The sheriff's office had also determined that deputy Clio had lied about his role in the other attack. Ransom is incarcerated in the CDC on a parole violation. Neither of the deputies were ever prosecuted for their roles in the attacks.
Source: Sacramento Bee
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Related legal case
Case Name Unknown
| Year | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 50000 |
| Injunction Status | N/A |