‘Cut’ me a check

Ex-inmate wants city to pay for court slashing

A FORMER inmate slashed in the face by a convicted murderer while both were in custody inside a Manhattan courthouse is suing the city — and demanding correction officers ramp up security.

Jorge Ramirez was placed in a holding cell by a correction officer in Manhattan Supreme Court on April 10.

His lawyers say he was brought to the courthouse in error and never actually appeared before a judge that day.

But the inconvenience was surpassed by the violence.

Antonio Mahon, a convicted murderer later sentenced to 76 years to life in prison, allegedly slashed Ramirez (photo inset) with a razor in the courthouse holding cell.

Mahon, 23, was labeled a “red ID status” prisoner, which means he is required to be in full mechanical restraints, according to the suit.

But Mahon was unrestrained in the pen — and armed with a razor he used to sliced Ramirez, 22, in the face, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit to be filed Friday by attorneys Sanford Rubenstein and Scott Rynecki.

Ramirez, of the Bronx, needed 16 stitches and was left with a permanent scar on his right cheek.

“I’ve witnessed slashings, fights, other violence in other pens and other parts of the courthouse,” Ramirez told the Daily News through a Spanish interpreter.

Ramirez was released in August after serving 23 months, mostly at Rikers Island and Manhattan Detention Complex after guilty to selling cocaine. “How did a prisoner smuggle a razor out of the Rikers prison complex is a question that has to be answered by authorities. The smuggling of weapons out of the jail facility by prisoners must be stopped,” said Rubenstein. Since Ramirez was attacked, another inmate, James Casey, allegedly brought a razor into Manhattan Supreme Court on Sept. 6. Casey, 20, was in a holding cell when he slashed a correction officer across the head and neck. Ramirez believes correction officers need to be retrained. “The prisons needs to get more security to stop these weapons from getting into the prison and in the courthouses,” said Ramirez. “I hope this will not happen to anyone else.” The Department of pleading Correction is seeking a technology to combat the slashings with scanners used in federal lockups.

“We will continue to work closely with state legislators to pursue the change in state law required to authorize the use of ionizing scanners. Safety is the department’s top priority and we continue to make progress in reducing the flow of contraband into all of our facilities," said Peter Thorne, a Correction spokesman.

Ramirez, who said he kept to himself while in jail and does not have any gang affiliations, did not understand why Mahon singled him out and attacked him.

“We’ll review these claims and respond accordingly,” said a spokesman for the city’s Law Department.

Last year, the Correction Officers Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit against the city for ignoring their members’ complaints about jailhouse conditions.

The lawsuit was dismissed and the union is in the process of filing an appeal.