Posted on 02/13/2024 4:18:50 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
A San Antonio jury decided Tuesday that a Guatemalan immigrant failed to prove her toddler got sick at an area immigration facility in 2018 and, as a result, died six weeks after their release — the main allegation of the mother’s federal lawsuit against the operator of the complex.
By an 8-1 verdict, jurors found Memphis, Tenn.-based CoreCivic was not negligent while housing Mariee Camyl Newberry Juárez and her mother, Yazmin Juárez Coyoy, in the South Texas Family Residential Center in March 2018.
After they were released on March 25, Mariee spent six weeks in hospitals in New Jersey and Philadelphia, and died May 10, 2018, from complications from two viruses. She was 21 months old.
Juárez, now in her mid-20s, cried as U.S. District Judge Fred Biery read the verdict. She was consoled by her lead lawyer, Stanton Jones.
CoreCivic defended its Dilley complex in a written statement.
“We care about every person entrusted to us, especially vulnerable populations for which our partners rightfully have very high standards that we work hard to meet each day,” the company said in a statement. “Our hearts continue to go out to this family for the tragic loss of their child.”
The jury, whose nine members were all Hispanic, deliberated a day and a half after closing arguments on Friday. The trial ran all of last week.
The jurors appeared to be at an impasse Tuesday morning when they sent a note asking the judge to allow them to review a trial exhibit. Biery agreed — and added in his note that both sides in the case agreed to accept an 8-1 verdict. Jurors reached a decision about an hour and a half later.
Juárez sued CoreCivic in 2019, claiming Mariee was healthy when the pair arrived at the facility but contracted two viruses while they were held in crowded conditions in a housing unit. Initially, the suit sought up to $40 million in damages, but Juárez’s lawyers did not specify to the jury how much they were seeking in damages.
Lawyers for Juárez argued in court last week that a boy in the same housing unit was sick and that Mariee may have contracted the viruses from him. They also argued that CoreCivic should have had isolation protocols in place to separate the sick from the healthy.
“They failed to provide safe conditions appropriate for small children detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center,” Jones said in his closing argument on Friday. “They had a duty to provide safe living conditions for children in their care and, as you have heard all week, they did not do that.”
'WATCHING MY DAUGHTER DIE': Migrant says daughter caught fatal viruses in a Texas detention facility
But attorneys for CoreCivic said it was impossible to prove that the child was infected at the facility — and countered that Mariee was either already sick before leaving Guatemala or infected along the way.
The mother and daughter slept for four nights on the floor of a makeshift structure near McAllen — with about 50 other mothers and children — operated by Border Patrol before Juárez and Mariee were moved to the Dilley facility.
“They didn’t even come close to proving liability in this case,” Daniel Struck, one of CoreCivic’s lawyers, said in his closing argument. “They have to prove that defendants breached the standard of care by having beds too close together in an unsanitary environment, and that Mariee caught these two viruses from a boy there. We all know they didn’t prove that.”
During the weeklong trial, a vice president for CoreCivic and a former warden said those held at the complex had access to multiple onsite health clinics administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The clinics were open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for appointments and medical emergencies.
The facility is about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio and can hold up to 2,400 people. CoreCivic opened it in 2014 under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold women and children migrants.
Juárez also sued ICE in 2020 in federal court in New Jersey, alleging negligent medical care at the Dilley facility. The government agency, not CoreCivic, handles medical care at the Dilley complex.
Jones also represents Juárez in that lawsuit, and said in closing arguments that he planned to hold “ICE responsible.” That case is pending in New Jersey.
The mother was looking for some deep pockets. She found none.
send the bill for this trial to whatever ####hole country she came from
Probably other chilluns she can sacrifice for $$$$
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW ANY ATTORNEY CAN BE AN ATTORNEY IN SUCH SITUATIONS,
TRUE AMBULANCE CHASERS, IMO.
“”The mother was looking for some deep pockets. She found none.””
More like an attorney FOUND her and saw DEEP POCKETS.....
If she had stayed in her own country, her daughter would likely be alive today.
My experience is that hispanic citizens do not feel a kinship to border jumpers the way democrats expect them to.
Exactly.
Yes, they can foot the bill.
“”Mariee spent six weeks in hospitals in New Jersey and Philadelphia””
That’s a lot of traveling from TX. Who paid for that and WHY?
I didn’t see what country they came from!
They learn fast…
Correct. Hispanics who are legitimate American citizens have enough trouble with housing, education, medical care, jobs and so on.
They do not need millions of illegals pouring in and taking away their limited resources.
Quite the opposite. The ones who come here legally detest the border jumpers. We should hire them as border guards
My thoughts too. None of this would’ve happened.
“Who paid for that”
You know....
So sorry. Thanks for playing!
Be sure to try your luck, again!
If pResident Pedo Joe hadn't told the world to "surge the border", the child would have gone to school, today, came home and hugged his mom.
Poor, happy and alive beats poor, sad and dead, every time.
“Who paid for that”
“”You know....””
Yes, I do - we’re all heart, aren’t we?
This illegal immigrant who Can’t Understand Normal Thinking killed her daughter. Now round her arse up and toss it back in Guatamala.
FTA:
A San Antonio jury decided Tuesday that a Guatemalan immigrant failed to prove her toddler got sick at an area immigration facility in 2018....
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