CHARLESTON – The estate of a man has filed another lawsuit against the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation after he died following hip surgery he had as a result of an altercation with a fellow inmate.
Peggy A. Stevens, as administratrix of the estate of of Mark Steven Morris, filed her complaint March 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court. In addition to the WVDCR, unknown employees also are listed as defendants.
“Mr. Morris is yet another casualty of our Regional Jail System,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “He did not have to die.”
diTrapano
According to the complaint, Morris was incarcerated at Western Regional Jail in Cabell County on Oct. 5, 2017, for misdemeanor assault.
On Dec. 18, 2017, Morris was involved in an altercation with his cellmate and injured his left hip. An x-ray showed he had a left hip fracture, and he was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington. On Dec. 21, Morris underwent a left hip hemiarthroplasty to repair his fractured hip.
On Dec. 25, he was discharged and returned to Western Regional Jail, where he was admitted to the medical unit. The complaint says his hospital discharge instructions provided that a follow-up appointment with surgeon Jack Steel take place 5-6 weeks after the procedure. That appointment was scheduled for Jan. 30, 2018.
Morris stayed in the jail’s medical unit until Jan. 17, 2018, when he was released. But, the complaint says he was not provided information regarding his follow-up appointment. It says he also wasn’t told the importance of follow-up care for his injury. It says he also wasn’t given a reasonable supply of the medications he was given for the injury and surgery recovery.
Morris was pronounced dead on Feb. 8, 2018.
“The certificate of death lists ‘left hip fracture’ as a cause of death,” the complaint states.
The defendants are accused of malicious conduct; violation of clearly established laws, including “cruel and unusual punishment;” and negligence.
In her complaint, Stevens (who is Morris’ sister) seeks compensatory damages for Morris’ pain and suffering prior to his death, sorrow and emotional suffering for all of his beneficiaries, loss of emotional support, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs, expenses and other relief
DiTrapano settled two jail suicide cases last year involving incidents at the South Central Regional Jail. He has at least three other jail death cases pending in Kanawha Circuit Court, and he said he expects more will be filed soon.
In addition to diTrapano, Stevens is being represented by Alex McLaughlin and Benjamin Adams also with Calwell Luce diTrapano as well as William C. Forbes and W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 20-C-216
