Curry County settles civil suit

CLOVIS — Curry County agreed in March to pay out $500,000 in civil damages to family of a mentally ill former jail inmate, according to documents obtained this week by The News.

The county released the records in response to a public information request filed early this month.

Alejandro Romero Jr., 39, suffered mental and physical health deterioration for months at a time in a segregation cell at Curry County Detention Center while jail staff neglected to properly address his condition, according to a complaint filed May 6, 2015, in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

The majority of the settlement payout is supplied by the New Mexico County Insurance Authority, with only $15,000 coming directly from Curry County as a deductible, said County Manager Lance Pyle.

Pyle said the settlement was the largest amount paid out by Curry County that he knows of in 20 years.

“Mr. Romero had behavioral health needs, and this is a very sad and serious issue that we face in our community and state. As it was in the best interest of all parties, the county insurance carrier settled the claim with Mr. Romero,” Pyle said in an email Wednesday. “Curry County has made great strides to improve the level of care provided to the inmates the past several years and continues with a $11.3 million renovation and addition. That construction will start in early 2018 and will include a new 2,300 square foot medical unit.”

Romero’s lawyer, Matthew Coyte of Albuquerque, wrote in the 2015 complaint that “CCDC is not equipped to house and treat inmates in need of expert mental healthcare like (Romero),” a diagnosed schizophrenic with a long history of mental illness and a prescription for several antipsychotic medications.

Coyte alleged “inhumane conditions” for Romero in the last seven months he spent in isolation at CCDC, with jail administrators permitting him to refuse his antipsychotic medication “because it was ‘pink’.”

“Defendants were deliberately indifferent by failing to get Alex the expert mental healthcare he required in order to reach medication compliance,” Coyte wrote.

Without his medication, Romero “spent hours on the floor under his bed ‘rocking,’ talking to himself, and naked,” the complaint read.

Romero eventually tore his bed mattress to pieces and was not furnished with a replacement.

“Instead of treating his mental illness that compelled (Romero) to tear up his mattress, Defendants denied (Romero) access to a mattress, forcing (Romero) to sleep on the metal bed frame or on the floor,” Coyte wrote.

Meanwhile, Romero refused to shave or cut his hair and took several showers a day for several hours at a time.

“On September 25, Defendants permitted Alex to take fourteen showers, with one of the showers being at least three hours long,” Coyte wrote.

The following day, Romero was seen by the CCDC medical unit for “dry and cracking skin” on his back.

Jail administrators “finally took action” after the second of two events in February 2013 in which Romero “smeared his own feces all over his cell.”

An initial effort to transfer Romero to the Department of Corrections was denied by the district court, which instead ordered a 30-day commitment to the state Behavior Health Institute.

There, Romero soon became medication compliant and by the end of the month he was “cooperative, polite, and displaying appropriate hygiene,” Coyte wrote.

On March 7 of this year, Michelle Romero signed a $500,000 settlement agreement on behalf of her brother.

Coyte is out of the country until August and could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Brandon Huss, representing the Curry County Board of Commissioners and the former jail administrators included in the lawsuit, did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Current CCDC Administrator Mark Gallegos referred questions to Huss and noted he was not involved with jail staff at the time of the lawsuit.

County attorney Steve Doerr said he was not involved with any aspect of the lawsuit, but he “received a copy of the proposed settlement that was negotiated by the attorney working for the (New Mexico Association of Counties).”

“The association had approved it,” said Doerr. “I know that the county did not necessarily agree with the amount.”

“The two detention center administrators during this lawsuit are no longer employed with the county and the county is very close to receiving accreditation from the New Mexico Association of Counties,” Pyle wrote in his email. “During the period of time Mr. Romero was in the county facility, his bond was set at $1,500 cash or surety. He could have been bonded out of the detention center at any time by family or friends for $150.”