12 months ago
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The state settled a $350,000 lawsuit brought by the family of an 18-year-old inmate who hung himself at a juvenile prison in Stockton. Joseph Maldonado's mother and sister sued the state upon learning the Sacramento 18-year-old hung himself from the bunk of his single-occupancy cell with a bedsheet wrapped around his neck. At the time, he had been on 24-hour lockdown for eight weeks following an outbreak of gang violence at the facility. The suit says Maldonado had no part in the gang activity. The lawsuit alleged correction officials ignored Maldonado's pleas for mental health treatment and obvious signs he was attempting to kill himself. It is one of three wrongful-death lawsuits the state has settled for a total of $1.3 million since the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation agreed under court order to improve conditions in its juvenile prisons.
The Associated Press
