Settlements Total $3.85 Million for Nevada Prisoners Hit with Birdshot
by David M. Reutter
After a Nevada Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner was blinded by guards using birdshot rounds, the state Board of Examiners (BOE) approved a $2.25 million settlement on September 12, 2023. A separate agreement reached just weeks earlier on August 28, 2023, cost the state another $1.6 million to settle wrongful death claims by the survivors of another prisoner hit with birdshot who didn’t survive. After those payments, totaling $3.85 million, DOC quickly rescinded policy allowing guards to use birdshot rounds as a security measure inside prisons.
DOC began providing guards in 1984 with shotguns loaded with birdshot rounds—a type of ammunition used to hunt birds or small game. In situations not requiring deadly force, policy required guards to fire “skip rounds” aimed at the ground to ricochet toward their target. Skip rounds of birdshot were aimed at prisoners by guards 71 times from 2012 to 2014.
Stacey Richards, then known as Rashaad Williams, 24, was in a group of five prisoners when a fight broke out at Ely State Prison on April 21, 2015. Guards intervened and ordered everyone to the ground. Richards, who was serving a sentence of 30-120 months, complied. But a guard fired two skip shots anyway. One hit Richards in the shoulder and the other in the face, blinding him. He sued in 2016. The settlement approved by BOE in his case provided for a $1,319,502.28 payment to him, plus $900,000 in fees and $30,497.62 in costs paid to his attorneys from the Law Offices of John Burton in Pasadena, California. See: Richards v. Cox, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 2:16-cv-01794.
Six months after birdshot blinded Richards, on November 12, 2014, High Desert State Prison guards removed prisoners Victor Perez and Andrew Arevalo from segregation cells. Policy dictated that they be handcuffed behind the back, with only one prisoner on the wing at a time. Guards got this half right: Both prisoners were handcuffed, but both were also on the walkway to the shower at the same time. A fight broke out between the two—more like a kick fest, given their handcuffs. Guards Jeff Castro, Isaiah Smith and Raynaldo-John Ramos unsuccessfully ordered them to stop.
Ramos then grabbed a shotgun. When the prisoners disobeyed another order to stop, Ramos shot a blank “popper” round. The fight continued. About five to 15 seconds later, Ramos fired a birdshot round “center mass” between the two prisoners; he later explained that he could not direct a skip shot off the ground do due to his position. According to a prisoner witness, Brandon Castner, Perez fell face down to the ground and never moved again.
However, guards said the two prisoners continued to fight. Some 15 to 20 seconds after firing the first round, Ramos shot another “center mass” round. He said the prisoners were still kicking and kneeing each other when he let loose with a third round. About 30 to 45 seconds later, Ramos fired a fourth round at the prisoners. Perez died at the scene from “multiple shotgun wounds of head, neck, chest, and arms.” Ramos was fired by DOC and criminally charged; he entered an Alford plea to avoid prison time, potentially downgrading his conviction to a misdemeanor, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Feb. 2020, p.16.]
Represented by Las Vegas attorneys Paola Armeni and Via Marina of Clark Hill PLC, Perez’s estate sued. Under the settlement that was reached, they received $632,434.36 in attorney fees and $18,914.10 in costs. Another $216,217.18 went to the Estate. The rest was paid to Perez’s two minor children, $300,000 in cash plus a $432,424.36 annuity. See: Perez v. Cox, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 2:15-cv-01572.
Additional source: Nevada Independent
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login