Facts

On Aug. 15, 2005, plaintiffs' decedent James W. Moore Sr., 30, was beaten by as many as 14 detention officers at Kern County Jail in Bakersfield. Earlier that day, he was arrested after someone called the police after noticing that Moore was acting strangely and making threatening comments. Moore's injuries were so severe that he died from them six days later at a hospital.

A deputy saw the detention officers beating Moore while he was dropping off an arrestee. The deputy submitted a memo to his superior briefly reporting what he had seen. This memo launched an investigation that resulted in the arrests of five of the involved detention officers, three of which are awaiting trial on murder charges.
Moore's two minor sons and each son's mother sued the county of Kern, its sheriff's department, Sheriff Mack Wimbish, Daniel Thomas Lindini, Ralph Contreras, Roxanne Fowler, Angel Lopez Bravo, Lisa Diane Romero, Randall Holtz, Julian Trevino, Larry Gene Johnson, Gregory Morgan, Shannon Haiungs, Jamie Tellez, Mark Jimenez, Moses Adame, Clinton Minor, Gregory Cossel, Jeff Colbert, Marcus Hudgins and Marc Haiungs, claiming that the detention officers assaulted Moore, causing his death, and that the government allowed the assault to happen.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs claimed that Moore was hit, kicked, punched, choked and kneed, by as many as 14 detention officers, over the first four-to-five hours he spent in the jail. It was agreed that Moore was handcuffed and in leg irons while all of this happened. The involved detention officers admitted that Moore never threatened or harmed any of them.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defense claimed that the officers were not beating Moore, but were rather delivering "compliance blows." Officers are allowed to hit prisoners in order to obtain compliance.

The defense also claimed that Moore did not die because of the injuries incurred in the beating, but rather because of a state of excited delirium, though no drugs were in his system at the time. Deaths caused by excited delirium generally occur when a person has taken large amounts of drugs, such as cocaine, and is then beaten or zapped with a stun gun. No stun guns were used on Moore.

Damages

The plaintiffs - Moore's son Bryce Moore, age 5; Bryce's mother, Michelle Tripp; Moore's other son James W. Moore Jr., 16; and James's mother, Alicia Moore Whitaker - sought damages for economic losses and loss of care, comfort and society.

Injuries

Plaintiffs' claimed loss of society; death; blunt force trauma to the head; fracture, skull; fracture, nose; swelling. Moore died in the hospital six days after the beating. His cause of death was cited as head and neck injuries along with blunt force trauma. Moore's injuries included skull fractures, nose fractures, bleeding in his ears, bleeding in his neck muscles, bleeding at the base of his skull, a fracture of the thyroid cartilage in the neck, bruising to most of his body and swelling in his brain.

Result

The parties settled for $6.05 million prior to trial. The recovery will be divided between Moore's sons, who will receive $3,025,000 each.