Posted on 03/17/2005 10:42:26 AM PST by Ramonan
The judgment was entered by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge this month after the two defendants — Gregory P. Gaines and Harold X. Wesley — failed to adequately file formal responses with the court.Gaines and Wesley attacked Blunt last April 2 as he was walking across an exercise yard, Lancaster prison spokesman Lt. Ken Lewis said. In the civil case, Blunt, who is 25 and has worked for the prison system for 2 1/2 years, said he suffered "permanent traumatic brain injury" from the attack. He remains partially paralyzed and on disability.
Task force members believe prisoners serving long sentences have nothing to lose by attacking corrections officers. They hope judgments such as this one will allow guards to seize even the paltriest inmate possessions — such as hot plates and radios — as a means to deter future attacks.
Parris assumes the prisoners don't have much money. Parris said that one of the prisoners wrote a response to the suit in longhand, but that it was "nonsensical" and didn't comply with court rules. Judge Alan S. Rosenfield entered the judgment of $10,253,792.57 against the two men March 3.
Blunt said it was hard to feel good about the judgment when the chances of recouping anything were slim. But he said it might be worthwhile if he is able to recoup any money the inmates make in the future.
"The only satisfaction I get out of this is if these inmates ever get out prison, they'll never have anything," he said.
Parris said Blunt could use the courts to seize the inmates' property or take their future wages. The prisoners could file exemptions to protect some property from seizure if they could prove they were destitute.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That's a lot of cigarettes.
The courts wil keep track of whatever they might have, or might get, and give it to the officer. This is kind of a new thing in California. Prison staff are encouraged to sue inmates these days.
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