Quantcast

WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fou men say they were wrongly jailed after drug test

CHARLESTON - Four men claim the West Virginia Division of Corrections wrongfully incarcerated them after a random drug test.

Rojak Matyas, Quinton Gifford, Timothy Blake Parsons and Robert Miller all filed lawsuits Jan. 26 against the DOC, Commissioner Jim Rubenstein and state Attorney General Darrell McGraw.

The men are all members of the state's work release program, which requires submissions of random drug testing. On Aug. 15, 2005, the men individually submitted urine samples at the same facility to the same person, the complaint states.

"The test came back with an 'incorrect' positive result," the suits say. Based on the incorrect test results, the men were arrested, their work release programs were terminated, and they were then transported to Huttonsville Correctional Facility.

During their incarcerations, the men were the subjects of numerous threats of physical and sexual harm by various inmates, the suit says.

The lawsuits claim the Division of Corrections has a duty to obtain the "correct" test results when performing random drug testing, and was therefore negligent. The men also claim they were falsely imprisoned, the suit says, and that they were illegally detained without lawful process.

The men, all represented by attorney Michael D. Payne, individually seek punitive damages for the incident.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 07-C-176 through 07-C-179

More News