Opinion ID: 613658
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Injury and Treatment

Text: Hill alleges that, on March 28, 2007, while confined at the Jail, he asked to be removed from Pod Two and placed in the block area after having been told that he would have to perform two particular cleaning details, three (3) days in a row by an officer Carissa Allen. [1] Shortly thereafter, according to Hill, the Pod was ordered to lock in, and Curcione and Chawer approached his cell along with other officers and ordered him to prepare to move. After putting on his sneakers, Hill was ordered to approach the cell door, turn around with his back to the door, get on his knees, and put his hands behind his head. The cell door then was opened and Hill was handcuffed. At that time, he alleges, he was struck in the upper torso [and] head area several times by Officer Curcione. He was then led out of his cell into the Pod B sallyport, [2] where Curcione and Chawer slammed him against the wall several times. Hill says he then began to resist the officers to prevent being forced to the floor. With his hands cuffed behind his head and with his torso and arms strapped in by an emergency response belt, Hill ultimately was thrown to the floor face down. He asserts that Curcione and Chawer then beg[a]n to tighten the handcuffs [and] bind his wrist solely as a means to cause injury. He avers that he ceased resisting at this point. The officers then bent his legs across one another as Hill remained face down on the floor. At that point, Sergeant Williams, the Tour Supervisor, appeared on the scene. Curcione reported to Williams that Hill had been resistant and force was needed to subdue Hill. When Hill said that Curcione was lying and that the officers had assaulted him, Williams purportedly instructed Hill to shut up. Hill continued to complain that his handcuffs were too tight and alleges that the Officers put a facemask on [him], causing his breathing to stop, while lifting him from the floor. He asserts that he then was carried from Pod 2 sallyport, to the elevator, and then down to isolation. Placed in an empty cell with the handcuffs still on his wrists, Hill claims that he was not seen until the next afternoon by a nurse after complaining to an officer in the Segregation Unit. He was seen by a physician's assistant two days after the incident, complaining that his hands were damaged by cuffs and [that he] suffered from extreme pain [and] numbness caused by nerve damage. An X-ray revealed a broken bone in Hill's wrist, and a cast was placed on the wrist on April 6, 2007, nine days after the injury occurred. On April 19, 2007, Aikin, a Nurse Practitioner, confronted Hill with an officer's report that Hill had been working out doing push-ups and pull-ups during recreation. Aikin, who had provided Motrin pain medication for Hill, was told that the officer's allegations were not exact and were an attempt to impede [Hill's] endeavors in filing a law suit against [Aikin's] fellow colleagues in that [Hill] had informed him (Officer Tim Blackley) of [Hill's] intent to do such. Hill continued to complain of pain, asserting that Motrin was insufficient as pain medication and opined that he should have been referred for a nerve conduction study. Hill asserted in his Statement of Facts appended to his complaint that he would soon be placed in the custody of the State Department of Correctional Services, so the Doctor [and] Nurse Practitioner believe that the Department of Correctional Services should deal with Plaintiff's issues. This is what both defendant Hohensee [and] [Aikin] had expressed verbally to Plaintiff. The version of the events leading to Hill's injury put forward by the Corrections Officer defendants is somewhat different. According to the Officers, the events unfolded as follows: Sergeant Williams, the Tour Supervisor at the Jail on March 28, 2007, received a call from Corrections Officer Carissa Allen that Hill was refusing to perform his cleaning detail and was using vulgar and obscene language toward Allen. After determining that Hill had used abusive language toward Allen in the past and that the conduct was recurring, Williams decided [Hill] should be written up and moved to punitive segregation for his disruptive behavior. Accordingly, Sergeant Williams instructed the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) Squad leader, Paul Curcione and another CERT member, Jeffrey Chawer, to proceed to plaintiff's cell and escort him to punitive segregation. Responding to that instruction, Officer Curcione states that, upon arrival outside [Hill's] cell, [he] informed [Hill] that [Hill] was charged with jail rule infractions and ordered him to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Instead of doing so, Hill began to pack his belongings and, when advised that an officer would pack his belongings for him and again ordered to turn around and place his hands behind his back, Hill became boisterous and yelled, `I will pack my shit.' Fearful that Hill would provide further resistance and aware that Hill was a man approximately 6'5 tall with a weight of approximately 240 pounds, Curcione ordered Hill into a kneeling position. When Hill went to a kneeling position, Curcione entered the cell with Officer Chawer. The officers met resistance when they attempted to secure Hill's hands behind his back. Curcione asserts that it was necessary to apply wrist compliance to control Hill's right wrist for placement in the handcuffs. He describes wrist compliance as manipulating the wrist joint and pressure points to gain control of a resistant inmate. The use of wrist compliance is standard operating procedure and pursuant to training received by a CERT officer. After Officers Curcione and Chawer escorted Hill out of his cell, Hill again resisted the officers and attempted to pull away from them while yelling obscenities and refusing to obey verbal commands to cease his disorderly conduct. The officers then placed Hill on the floor and attempted to gain control of his legs as he kicked at Officer Chawer and continued to struggle. Additional officers were called to the scene and the officers then present were able to take control of Hill's torso and secure his legs with an Emergency Response Belt. Hill then was carried to an observation cell where the handcuffs and belt were removed. During the course of the incident, Hill threatened Curcione with physical harm several times.