County settles jail case
Family of mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree to receive $3.6 million
Santa Clara County has agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle an excessive force claim filed by the family of Michael Tyree, the mentally ill inmate beaten to death last year, allegedly by three jail guards.
In a testament to the gravity of the case, county officials took the unusual step of settling the matter early — at the claim stage — rather than forcing the family to go to court with a lawsuit.
“The settlement represents everyone’s effort to bring a difficult situation to a close,” said lawyer Paula Canny, who represented the sisters. “To the family, they’d much rather have their brother back.”
County officials declined to
comment. The settlement is roughly comparable — in today’s dollars — to the $1.7 million Santa Clara County officials paid to settle the 1995 death of inmate Joseph Leitner, who fell into a coma from lack of oxygen and eventually died after five correctional officers put a blanket over his head as they forcefully carried him to the eighth-floor psychiatric ward.
But the case was resolved for less money than some counties have paid to compensate relatives for similar jail deaths.
Last year, Alameda County and its jail medical services provider Corizon Health paid a record $8.3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by four relatives of inmate Martin Harrison — more than four years after he was fatally beaten and shocked with a Taser by Santa Rita Jail guards.
However, in protracted cases, legal fees and costs tend to eat up much more of the settlement.
The bulk of the Tyree settlement — 85 percent after legal fees and costs are deducted — will be paid to Tyree’s 7-year-old daughter, sources familiar with the case said.
The child’s name was withheld because she is a minor. Tyree’s daughter and his estate were represented by Valerie Rose and Matt Davis, who declined to comment.
Tyree’s two sisters, Shannon Tyree and Elizabeth Ott, will receive 15 percent, according to sources familiar with the settlement. The sisters were unavailable for comment.
Santa Clara County and the Tyree heirs settled the matter in mid-September. But the county did not announce the agreement until after this newspaper asked for an update.
County Counsel James R. Williams said there are three pending claims and 13 pending lawsuits related to use of force in the jails. Most of them were filed prior to Tyree’s death. Of the 13 lawsuits, only four are related to incidents since Tyree’s death.
Typically, the amount of money paid in wrongful death cases under federal law is based partly on the economic loss to the family. Tyree was severely mentally ill, however, and did not work. So the amount was based on the estimated worth of Tyree’s pain and suffering, which the family was eligible to collect, sources familiar with the settlement said.
Three correctional officers in their late 20s — Jereh Lubrin, Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodriguez — were charged with murder about a week after Tyree’s battered body was discovered in late August 2015.
The three guards also face assault charges for allegedly beating up another mentally ill inmate, Juan Villa, shortly before attacking Tyree.
Tyree, 31, had been beaten so badly that his spleen burst, causing him to bleed to death internally, according to a medical examiner’s report cited in the claim. His disfigurement — including deep bruising and abrasions from his head to his ankles — forced the family to hold a closedcasket funeral service, the claim said.
The guards’ lawyers suggested at the their preliminary hearing earlier this year that Tyree may have killed himself by jumping off his bunk bed.
The lawyers also tried to discredit witnesses who said they heard Tyree screaming, including Villa, who made several delusional statements when he testified.
However, prosecutor Matt Braker introduced new evidence at the hearing, including a text message backing up Villa’s story about how he allegedly was mistreated by Lubrin a month before Tyree died. Villa said he defecated on a holding cell floor and Lubrin rubbed his face in it.
A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for the three guards to stand trial on both the murder and assault charges.
Lubrin’s lawyer now is seeking to invoke his right to a speedy trial, meaning the matter could go before a jury as soon as early March. It is unclear whether all three men would be tried together, because Lubrin also is seeking to be tried separately.