Former jailer ordered to pay inmate $250K

Man says ex-guard’s punch caused loss of vision in one eye

A Harris County man was awarded $250,000 in damages after a jailer allegedly hit him in the face in 2013, causing him to lose vision in his right eye, according to federal court records.

William Gerald Fitzgerald, who was later sent to state prison, represented himself in the three-year court case against former Harris County detention officer Myron Nelson.

Though the ex-guard wasn’t criminally charged in the Fitzgerald case, he was arrested for allegedly hitting a different inmate three months earlier. He no longer works at the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.

The altercation broke out when Fitzgerald asked to go to the jail medical department after breakfast on the morning of May 18, 2013.

When staff told him no, Fitzgerald got angry and slammed the door to his eight-man cell, according to court records. Hearing the outburst, Nelson came over and ordered Fitzgerald to go to the sally port and face the wall.

Then, he hit him in the right eye, records show.

“That will teach you to slam my doors!” he said, according to federal court filings. Afterward, Nelson allegedly covered up his name tag and refused to tell the bleeding inmate who he was.

A jail doctor immediately sent Fitzgerald to the hospital, where he got 12 stitches in his cornea, records show. The lens of his eye had been forced out by the blow to his face, and the iris was torn and protruding.

Ever since, Fitzgerald testified, he’s had daily pain and increased sensitivity to light. Doctors do not believe they’ll be able to restore his vision.

At an April 18, 2018, hearing regarding damages, Fitzgerald told a judge he’d forgiven Nelson and didn’t believe the former jailer intended to damage his eye to the extent that he did.

But, he added, he does not excuse Nelson’s actions and said it is only fair that Nelson pay for the damage caused to his eye.

However, Nelson testified at the hearing that he doesn’t remember hitting Fitzgerald or sending him to the clinic, and that someone said that Fitzgerald had cancer in his eye.

The former jailer, who is now unemployed, represented himself at the hearing and did not present any evidence rebuffing Fitzgerald’s claims about the extent of his injuries.

The court ultimately ruled in Fitzgerald’s favor.

Originally, Fitzgerald had asked for $250,000 in compensatory damages, $1 million in punitive damages, and $5,000 in various costs.

Because there was insufficient evidence that Nelson acted with the requisite reckless or callous disregard for Fitzgerald’s rights, the court declined to award punitive damages. Though online records no longer show him in custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Fitzgerald represented himself and filed hand-written petitions from prison throughout most of his case.

When it was first filed, the suit named both then-Sheriff Adrian Garcia and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office as defendants, though a judge later tossed the claims against them.