Our client is the mother of Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic young man who died in the D.C. Corrections Department’s contractor-operated Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF) in September 2004 from lack of proper care after being sentenced to ten days’ incarceration for possession of a marijuana cigarette. In September 2005 we filed suit seeking damages from the District of Columbia, the Corrections Corporation of America, Greater Southeast Community Hospital, and more than a dozen corrections officers, doctors and nurses whose negligence caused Mr. Magbie to die four days after being jailed.
After substantial discovery and denials of several defendants’ motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, we obtained a substantial amount of compensation in settlements with the various defendants.
Mr. Magbie’s death also sparked several government investigations, exposing major lapses in health care at the D.C. Jail, the CTF, and Greater Southeast Community Hospital. As part of the settlement, the District government changed the way officials screen and handle inmates with medical problems and disabilities.