Opinion ID: 780379
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jason Robb

Text: 9 Plaintiff Robb is a death row inmate serving death sentences for two counts of aggravated murder and consecutive prison terms for two counts of kidnaping arising out of the deadly prison riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, in 1993. See State v. Robb, 88 Ohio St.3d 59, 723 N.E.2d 1019 (2000). When the disturbance began, he left his cell to check on the safety of other prisoners in the unit. He then returned to his cell with inmates Robert VanHook and Kenneth Richey. 10 Robb's cell window was broken and gas was dispersed through the window and the air vent. According to Robb, the gas caused their muscles to tighten and made them lose control of their urine and feces. Robb broke the glass out of a window, and the three inmates went to the window for air. Officers sprayed the inmates with mace to make them move away from the window. When Robb said that they were locked in their cell, the officers told Robb to shut up and to get away from the window. Officer Gilbert then swung a sledgehammer at Robb. The sledgehammer glanced Robb's face and hit his left shoulder. Robb claims that he could barely stand or breathe after an hour of exposure to the gas. 11 As the SRT members entered DR-4, Robb heard them calling out, Where's Robb? The officers arrived at his cell and directed the three inmates to remove everything from the floor area and to place it on the top bunk. When the officers entered the cell, Robb heard someone say, You take the little mother fucker in the middle, referring to Robb. An officer hit Robb in the back of his head and then someone placed him in a choke hold and pulled him to the floor. The officers stomped on his back and kicked him in the genitals, face, and side. Robb heard the officers say, This is what this mother fucker deserves. Robb was knocked unconscious while lying on the floor. 12 Captain Buck stood outside Robb's cell while other SRT members entered the cell. Robb was handcuffed inside the cell and handed off to Buck. As Buck escorted Robb, they both fell in the hallway. Robb's weight pulled Buck down with him. Another officer (or officers) helped Buck pick Robb up and assisted Buck in escorting Robb out of DR-4. 13 Robb woke up when he was on the floor outside his cell. Someone jerked on his hands, trying to pull him off the ground. After they pulled him up, the officers tried to run Robb into the stairway on the side of the recreation area. Robb turned his head to avoid the stairway, but it caught his shoulder. The officers picked him up and ran him into a wall. Robb blacked out again and hit the floor. 14 Buck was at Robb's left side the entire distance from DR-4 to OPI. At one point, the officer at Robb's right side handed him off to Officer Shasky. Shasky escorted Robb from the officers' desk area to OPI. When Robb woke again, Shasky rammed his knee and leg into Robb's face while Robb was kneeling. After a few more punches and kicks, Robb blacked out again. 15 As Buck and Shasky escorted him, Robb appeared dazed and was bleeding from his head, face, and hand. According to Shasky, Robb was not cooperating in the escort. Robb received medical treatment at OPI and then was transported to the hospital. He suffered a skull fracture and received more than thirty stitches.