Judge: $200K settlement in jail death is out

A federal judge in Texarkana issued a ruling that means a civil suit stemming from the death of a diabetic 20-year-old in the Bi-State Justice Building jail will not settle for $200,000.

U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III denied Monday a defense motion to dismiss the case filed after the first lawyer in the case involving the July 1, 2016, death of Morgan Angerbauer attempted to settle the suit. Little Rock lawyer Matt Campbell came under fire after he accepted a proposed $200,000 settlement offer from LaSalle Corrections, a private company contracted to manage the jail.

Angerbauer’s mother, Jennifer Houser, objected to the proposed settlement after learning of it from an outside party in November. Campbell fought Houser, claiming he was under no obligation to consider her wishes. Campbell replaced Houser as the estate’s administrator without her knowledge, stating in probate court filings that she was not acting in the estate’s best interest.

Houser hired Texarkana lawyer David Carter shortly after learning of Campbell’s plan to settle the case and Carter put LaSalle’s lawyers on notice that Campbell’s acceptance of the settlement proposal was being challenged. LaSalle moved forward despite Carter’s involvement and executed the settlement with Campbell in January.

“Defendants were on notice of plaintiff’s objection to the settlement as early as the first hearing to approve the settlement on Dec. 18, 2017. Despite such

notice and despite the fact that the probate court set a final hearing for March 12, 2018, defendants executed the settlement on Jan. 23, 2018. In executing the settlement early, defendants assumed the risk that the probate court would not finally approve the settlement after its March hearing,” Schroeder’s three-page order states.

At the March hearing in Miller County probate court, Circuit Judge Carlton Jones withdrew his preliminary approval of the $200,000 settlement after finding that the settlement was “not in the best interest of the estate of Morgan Angerbauer.”

At that time, Campbell consented to withdraw from the case altogether with the agreement that when the case is resolved, either through settlement or by a jury, he will still receive an $80,000 paycheck equal to 40 percent of the $200,000 settlement he wanted to accept. Carter argued that Campbell had hijacked Angerbauer’s case from her family, failed to address certain legal arguments in his court filings, and failed to meet critical deadlines in the federal case.

Schroeder’s order found that proceeding with a dismissal of the federal case based on a settlement agreement Arkansas state probate court ultimately did not approve would undermine the probate court’s authority. In addition to denying the motion to dismiss, Schroeder lifted a stay triggered by the November settlement notice and scheduled the case for a jury trial to be held in April in Texarkana’s downtown federal building.

The allegations

Morgan Angerbauer died of diabetic ketoacidosis in the early hours of July 1, 2016.

Former licensed vocational nurse Brittany Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor negligent homicide in November and was ordered to serve six months in the Miller County jail. Angerbauer asked Johnson to check her sugar around 5:15 p.m. on June 30. But Johnson refused, telling Angerbauer that staff, not detainees, decide when medical attention occurs, according to a probable-cause affidavit used to create the following account.

“Shortly after 5 p.m., according to Johnson, she walked past the medical observation cell where Angerbauer was housed on her way to other segregation cells,” the affidavit states. “Johnson openly admitted that Angerbauer told her she was ready to go to medical at that time. Johnson also admitted that she was fully aware of the severity of Angerbauer’s medical diabetic situation, but rather than treat her, she told her that ‘things don’t work that way. If you miss your medical call, you have to wait until it’s time for your next medical call.’ Johnson told investigators that if she allowed all offenders to do that, she’d never get anything done,” the affidavit states.

Angerbauer was arrested June 28, 2016, on a motion to revoke probation filed in Miller County alleging administrative violations such as failure to complete court-ordered programs. Glucose testing in the downtown Texarkana jail in the days before her death repeatedly showed high readings.

Angerbauer banged on the door of her cell for hours, allegedly begging Johnson to check her blood sugar. A jail trusty noticed Angerbauer unconscious on the floor of her cell, a medical observation space just 20 feet from the nurse’s station, at about 4 a.m. on July 1, 2016. It had been more than 17 hours since her last blood sugar check.

Johnson was unable to obtain a numerical reading using blood sugar testing equipment and misinterpreted a reading as an error rather than as indicative of a dangerously high sugar level. Johnson administered glucose, or pure sugar, as Angerbauer slipped deeper into unconsciousness. A medical examiner’s report puts Angerbauer’s sugar level at 813. A normal blood sugar range is 70 to 110.

Jail surveillance footage shows Johnson waited as long as 45 minutes before calling 911, despite Angerbauer’s physical crisis. When paramedics did arrive, it was too late.

An amended complaint

On Tuesday, Carter filed a motion seeking permission to file a fourth amended complaint in the federal case pending in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Campbell filed several amended complaints in the case with minor changes before announcing his intent to settle the case in November.

A copy of the proposed fourth amended complaint attached to the motion not only names Angerbauer’s estate as a plaintiff—as Campbell did—but lists Angerbauer’s mother, stepfather and two sisters as plaintiffs as well.

The fourth amended complaint adds some defendants too, including the City of Texarkana, Ark., and Bowie County, Texas. At the time of her death, Angerbauer was an Arkansas detainee. Bowie County is responsible for the Bi-State jail and negotiates the contract with LaSalle to manage it.

Several individual defendants named in the suit previously, such as LaSalle regional administrators, have been dropped from the suit. The defendants named in the fourth amended complaint include: Southwestern Correctional LLC doing business as LaSalle Corrections LLC and LaSalle Southwest Corrections; LaSalle Management Company; Bowie County; Texarkana, Ark.; Brittany Johnson; Regina Lynch; and Jane Does and John Does.

Lynch was Johnson’s nursing supervisor at the time of Angerbauer’s death. The John and Jane Doe defendants represent LaSalle employees who allegedly engaged in misconduct contributing to Angerbauer’s death.

The fourth amended complaint seeks damages for the plaintiffs for alleged violations of the U.S. Constitution, Arkansas’ Wrongful Death Act and Arkansas’ Civil Rights Act. The complaint asks for a punitive damages award meant to deter the defendants from engaging in similar conduct in the future. Carter refers to the July 2015 death of Michael Sabbie in the Bi-State jail as evidence that the defendants knew policies and procedures for the medical care of inmates were inadequate but failed to take action to correct the deficiencies he alleges eventually contributed to Angerbauer’s death nearly one year later.

LaSalle staff allegedly had a habit of filling out forms indicating they had conducted checks on inmates at their beginning of their shifts, before any checks were actually conducted, at the time of Angerbauer’s death. Jail logs allegedly show staff checking on Angerbauer after she had died.

The fourth amended complaint refers as well to an inmate’s medical emergency within the past few months. An inmate allegedly languished in his cell for roughly 24 hours after having a stroke before receiving medical treatment. According to the fourth amended complaint, the inmate might have suffered longer without treatment had his cellmate not contacted members of the inmate’s family, who in turn contacted jail administrators.

The fourth amended complaint seeks damages for Angerbauer’s pain and suffering before death, her loss of life and for funeral expenses. Also sought are damages for each of the members of Angerbauer’s family for the loss of their loved one and also for attorney fees and court costs.

Carter’s motion indicates that he consulted with LaSalle’s lawyers and they are opposed to the filing of a fourth amended complaint.