Court Roundup

South Carolina
Berkeley sued by estates of those who die in jail
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — Berkeley County faces a pair of lawsuits by the estates of inmates who have died in the jail in Moncks Corner.

The lawsuits say inmates with serious medical conditions died because they did not get proper medical treatment, The Post and Courier of Charleston reported.

Jail supervisor Cliff McElvogue referred questions to Sheriff Wayne DeWitt.

“I have a duty to take in all persons charged with crimes, regardless of how sick they may be,” DeWitt told the newspaper.

An attorney for the county, Sandra Senn, says it’s hard to determine which inmates are really sick.

The latest lawsuit in September says a man convicted of shoplifting and animal nuisance was not properly treated for bipolar depressive disorder, Hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver and other
problems. David Allan Woods died Nov. 11, 2010 at age 50.

The lawsuit says Woods was taking six medicines for the various problems when he went to jail. The suit says the nurse who evaluated him at the jail reported he was taking just two medicines. The lawsuit says he became progressively worse and was taken to a hospital only after he became unresponsive. He died three days later.

A suit in April says an inmate was improperly treated for alcohol withdrawal.

Michael A. Wilson, 50, was taken to the jail March 2, 2010 for a probation violation. A nurse who evaluated him for alcohol withdrawal prescribed a medicine for detoxification. The lawsuit says the dosage was not sufficient.

The lawsuit says Wilson began having seizures from alcohol withdrawal four days later and died March 14.