Inmate asphyxiated in jail restraint chair; $700,000 settlement

Action: Wrongful death

Injuries alleged: Death by asphyxiation

Case name: Dean v. Campbell

Court/case no.: U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina, No. 5:22-cv-00167-KDB-DCK

Jury and/or judge: U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth D. Bell

Name of mediator: Asa Bell

Amount: $700,000

Date: Sept. 25, 2024

Most helpful experts: Dr. Jonathan Privette, Pathologist, Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office and George Hardinger, Jail Operations Expert

Attorneys: Charles W. Hinnant, III of Ted A. Greve & Associates in Charlotte (for the plaintiff) and Nicholas Acevedo and James R. Morgan, Jr. of Womble Bond Dickinson in Winston-Salem (for the defense)

This was a §1983 case against the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department stemming from an inmate’s placement in a restraint chair. The inmate was suffering from a psychiatric episode, warranting his placement in the restraint chair. However, multiple officers held the inmate down with his head between his knees for approximately 3 minutes and 15 seconds, until he asphyxiated and died.

The case proved challenging because there are no past restraint chair-related positional asphyxiation cases in the country, so it was not clear whether the rights alleged to have been violated were “clearly established” at the time of the inmate’s death. This created a significant legal issue regarding whether the subject officers were entitled to qualified immunity.