Rikers Island Inmate Files Lawsuit After He Was Assaulted By Another Inmate

NEW YORK - Feb. 12, 2016 - PRLog -- An inmate and pre-trial detainee who was held at Rikers Island and assaulted by another inmate alleges that the Department of Correction (DOC) failed to take reasonable steps to ensure his safety. In his court filing, the inmate names the City of New York, Commissioner Joseph Ponte as well as wardens and correction officers whose names are not yet known. As proof of the City's acquiescence and tacit approval of the culture of violence at Rikers, the court papers cite to a New York Daily News article of January 25, 2016, which read, in part, "The number of stabbings and slashings at Rikers Island and other city jails spiked by 49% in 2015, records show...At the same time, the number of inmates in solitary has dropped by 56%, from 423 in 2015 to 188 at the start of 2016, according to Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte. Long time jail bosses say there is a direct correlation between the drop in solitary and the increase in violence."

The inmate who filed suit on January 25, 2016, alleges that he had been transferred from a safe and secure environment for low risk inmates to a high risk area of the jail, which included gang members and violent criminals, for no apparent reason. The inmate who had been in the high risk area of the jail struck the Plaintiff in the lawsuit about the face and mouth with a hard object contained in a sock. The lawsuit goes on to allege that rather than promptly taking the injured inmate to the hospital after the brutal attack, he was instead left in a cell for a significant period of time where he continued to bleed from the mouth. Eventually, a supervisory officer walked by and, observing the victim seriously injured, arranged for him to be taken to the hospital. At Bellevue Hospital, the victim of the assault was diagnosed with a jaw that had been fractured in two places. He thereafter underwent surgery and had two metal plates placed in his jaw.

Within his federal lawsuit, the victim of the assault at Rikers brings claims for deliberate indifference to safety, deliberate indifference to a serious medical need, unreasonable force, failure to intervene, supervisory liability and negligence. Richard Cardinale, Michael Redenburg and Izabel Garcia represent the assaulted inmate. Michael Redenburg maintains an office at 11 Park Place, Suite 817, New York, NY 10007.

http://www.mjrlaw-ny.com

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