$127,000 Settlement for Michigan Jail Guards Use of Excessive Force
by David Reutter

Michigan’s Kent County Correctional Facility (KCCF) agreed to pay $127,198 to settle a civil rights action alleging a guard used excessive force against a pre-trial detainee.

After being involved in a one-car accident in the early morning hours of October 2, 2010, Frederick Veal was taken to a local hospital and later arrested for a DUI. He registered a 0.26 percent blood alcohol level, or more than three times the legal limit for driving.

Upon arrival at KCCF, Veal was loud but not physically confrontational. After refusing, or something to that effect, a directive from guard Ray Padilla to remove his shoes, Padilla dragged Veal down a hall to a shakedown vestibule where he was slammed face first into a wall.

Padilla then grabbed Veal’s arms and lifted them so violently that he broke Veal’s right arm. On a video of the incident, Veal can be heard screaming in pain and saying his arm is broken.

As blood ran down Veal’s face onto his lips, Padilla “used vulgar language toward Mr. Veal” and verbally threatened to “make him bleed some more if he didn’t quit spitting,” said KCCF Chief Deputy Michelle Young in a letter of reprimand to Padilla. The reprimand for failure to “maintain the highest level of professionalism” also cited Padilla for failing to file a use-of-force form for his use of a “knee strike” just before forcibly taking Veal to a cell.

It was not until the afternoon of October 3, 2015 that Veal was treated for the broken arm. The break “was so obvious that a heath care professional at the hospital called [d]efendant Kent County to report said injury and condition and express concern regarding the assault that had apparently taken place,” states the lawsuit.

Kent County, however, contended in court filings the arm injury proceeded booking. “Simply put, it appears that [the] plaintiff fractured his right upper arm in the automobile accident, but was simply too drunk to recognize the nature and extent of his injury,” wrote KCCF attorney Peter Smit.

Nonetheless, KCCF agreed to the cash settlement on Oct. 17, 2013. In addition to paying Veal $95,000, it agreed to cover $32,198 in medical costs.

KCCF, as part of the settlement, required Veal’s attorneys to return the video of the incident. Veal was represented by Grand Rapids attorneys Stephen R. Drew and Adam C. Sturdivant. See: Veal v. Kent, U.S.D.C. (W.D. Mich.), Case no. 1:12-cv-00992.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

Related legal case