PHILADELPHIA – Trial commences this week in an action where a former inmate of SCI-Graterford says local law enforcement officials did not take proper care in transporting him and others who were confined to wheelchairs, leading him to suffer a concussion, chest and spinal injuries.
On Nov. 14, 2016, plaintiff Jermaine Williams was being transported from SCI-Graterford to the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia. Defendants Deputy Sheriff V. Lopez and Deputy Sheriff Valasco were responsible for transporting plaintiff and several other inmates to the Criminal Justice Center. At the time of transportation, plaintiff was in a wheelchair. Some of the other inmates being transported were also in wheelchairs. All of the inmates, including plaintiff, were shackled and handcuffed during the entire trip,” U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Richard Barclay Surrick said.
“Plaintiff alleges that defendants did not secure plaintiff’s wheelchair, or the wheelchairs of any of the other inmates, inside the van. Plaintiff also alleges that defendants did not secure plaintiff or any of the other inmates with a seatbelt or any other safety apparatus. Plaintiff alleges that the inmates “complained to the [defendants] about the unsafe situation they were in.” Defendants ignored these complaints.”
According to the suit, defendant Valasco then began to drive the van to the Criminal Justice Center, at which time the plaintiff claimed that Valasco was driving too fast and that the inmates asked Valasco to slow down on multiple occasions.
The plaintiff added that several inmates began to “sway side to side and back and forth” during the trip, and that his wheelchair and those of the other inmates began to lift off the floor and slide back and forth inside of the van – but that the defendants’ only response to those events was, “Don’t come to jail.”
“Valasco sped around a curve on the east side of Philadelphia City Hall too fast, and had to abruptly ‘slam on the brakes’ in order to gain control of the van. When the van stopped abruptly, plaintiff was ‘thrown out of his wheelchair head first into the metal grate of the van.’ Several other inmates were simultaneously thrown out of their seats. Plaintiff was thrown upside down in the van, and two of the other inmates were thrown on top of him. Plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including a concussion, chest injuries and an injury to his spine at the cervical and lumbar levels,” Surrick said.
“Plaintiff filed the complaint in this Court on June 15, 2017. Plaintiff asserts both federal and state law violations in his complaint. With regard to the federal claim, plaintiff alleges that defendants violated his constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 (Count I). With regard to the state law claim, plaintiff alleges that the defendants negligently operated a Pennsylvania motor vehicle, in violation of 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. Section 8542 (Count II). On July 24, 2017, defendants filed a motion to dismiss. Defendants’ motion seeks dismissal of plaintiff’s federal claim (Count I), and remand the case to state court in order to address the plaintiff’s state law claim. On Aug. 16, 2017, the plaintiff filed a memorandum in opposition to defendants’ motion.”
Said motion was soon granted on Aug. 22, 2017, dismissing the federal claim against the City of Philadelphia’s Sheriff’s Office, but retaining the federal claims against Lopez and Valasco. Though the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment in September 2019, it was denied in January 2020.
In a Jan. 10 trial brief, plaintiff counsel asserts Williams, due to the defendants’ driving and lack of through seat-belting, was thrown out of his wheelchair, likely suffered a seizure, lost consciousness and awakened to find two other inmates on top of him.
“In the instant case, the truck was not on its roof and never was, yet the plaintiff was thrown from his wheelchair into the wall of the van and suffered a seizure.’ At the very least, this seems to be prima facie evidence that the prisoner was not properly secured at all. The incident would not have even happened had he been properly secured for the conditions of the trip in the motor van. Likewise, the inmates who fell on him, who may have contributed to his permanent injuries, were never secured, as the City designee testified,” plaintiff counsel’s trial brief stated.
The same day, defense counsel presented its own brief, denying the veracity of the plaintiff’s allegations.
“This case arises from allegations in plaintiff’s amended complaint that on Nov. 14, 2016, the deputies were deliberately indifferent to the safety of plaintiff by failing to properly secure him and his wheelchair during a trip from SCI-Graterford to the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia. In the amended complaint, plaintiff claims Deputy Valasco was driving the van at an unsafe speed around City Hall, and on the east side of City Hall, he suddenly stopped, causing the plaintiff to be thrown out of his wheelchair head first into the metal grate of the van,” the defense brief said.
“The deputies deny they are liable. They have no idea why or how the plaintiff fell off his wheelchair as the van was traveling around City Hall, at around 10 a.m., at a very slow speed due to the van’s size and the usual heavy traffic around Penn Square. Plaintiff was strapped and buckled in prior to departure and defendants maintain that they heard no complaints from plaintiff or any other inmate about any alleged unsafe conditions in the van prior to the claimed accident.”
The defense pointed to deputies in the Transportation Unit having transported 1,145 wheelchair-bound inmates over the past five and a half years, with only three incidents being reported (including the one in question).
The plaintiff is represented by Stuart M. Niemtzow of the Law Offices of George Twardy Jr., in Havertown.
The defendants are represented by Matthew K. Hubbard and Daniel Cerone of the City of Philadelphia’s Law Department.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:17-cv-02697
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com