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Alameda County agrees to $5 million settlement in Fremont man’s jail hanging

Elise Sanguinetti of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos obtained the largest settlement in a prisoner suicide case against Alameda County in history.

The $2.375 million settlement is for the family who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county on behalf of man who hung himself while under suicide watch at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. The lawsuit alleged staff there left him alone without appropriate mental health care even though he was a known suicide risk. 

While held at Santa Rita Jail (a mega-jail, third largest in California, 5th in the nation), Logan Masterson was put on “suicide watch” and placed in a safety cell. He was rehoused in Administrative Segregation which is an isolation unit. The complaint alleged this increased the risk of Masterson harming himself. Although Masterson asked for mental health assistance, tried to block the window to his cell and flooded his cell by clogging the toilet, this did not raise any red flags with the staff. The staff was accused of behaving negligently, ignoring protocol, performing inadequate observation checks, failing to contact mental health staff and ignoring important signs of the prisoner’s poor mental health. Masterson ultimately took his life and was found dead in his cell.

“At the end of the day, this case is a tragedy that could have been prevented,” said Ms. Sanguinetti. “Logan was a troubled soul who would still be with us and potentially rehabilitated had the staff at Santa Rita Jail cared enough to do their job and keep watch over someone who had obvious mental health issues. Our hope, and the hope of Logan’s family, is that this is a wake-up call for every correctional facility in the nation and that this never happens again.”

Case Type: Negligence

Original Story

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/10/22/alameda-county-agrees-to-5-million-settlement-in-fremont-mans-jail-hanging/

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Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP

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