Settlements and Verdicts

Suicidal Payoff

Waterloo, IA: (Mar-05-08) The estate of Michael Allen Sutton, brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Black Hawk County and its jail's contract health-care provider, after Sutton committed suicide in the county jail. The suit claimed that Sutton hanged himself with a bed sheet from a shower sprinkler head while incarcerated at the jail in February 2007. His widow alleged that jail officials should have been more careful because her husband had previously been hospitalized in a mental health ward after an attempted suicide. The death led to the family's filing a damage claim.

As part of a settlement reached between the parties, the estate of Michael Allen Sutton will receive $75,000 from the county and the jail's contract health-care provider. Records show that the incident was the jail's first suicide in nearly 10 years. Under the terms of the deal, Black Hawk County is responsible for half the settlement, or $37,500, while NaphCare Inc., of Birmingham, AL, will pick up the balance. NaphCare provides medical, dental and mental health care in the jail under a contract with the county. [WCF COURIER: COUNTY TO AWARD ESTATE OF MAN WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE]

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