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Jury finds in favor of county jail in federal wrongful death suit

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Brace's family was seeking unspecified monetary damages after she died from alcohol and drug withdrawal in the jail's custody in 2005.

081905 cynthia brace.JPGCynthia Brace

SPRINGFIELD -- After eight hours of deliberations in U.S. District Court, six jurors found in favor of Hampden County jail officials Wednesday in a wrongful death suit filed by the family of a 41-year-old inmate who died of drug withdrawal while in the jail's custody in 2005.

A lawyer for Cynthia Brace's family was suing for wrongful death, alleging medical personnel at the jail in Ludlow prompted the woman's cardiac arrest by not providing proper treatment when she was in the throes of dire opiate and alcohol withdrawal. Edward McDonough, a lawyer for the jail, countered that medical personnel had been watching Brace closely and her death was sudden and unexpected.

Jurors came to their verdict after a week of testimony; Brace's family was seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Shawn Allyn, said he and the family were disappointed with the verdict, but said the case prompted changes in medical protocol at the jail that will serve future inmates suffering from substance abuse withdrawal.

"It was a difficult case due to the nature of the death, but the case did effectuate some change for inmates. The Hampden County House of Correction has since changed its alcohol withdrawal protocols and now has intravenous medication," which has a swifter response to fend off the potentially fatal effects of acute withdrawal, Allyn said.

McDonough said that the case was a sad one because of Brace's death at 41 years old, and that the vast majority of inmates who enter the county jails are suffering from substance abuse.

"It's sad to see someone die that young," McDonough said. "But we're glad the jury agreed that the care and treatment (Brace received at the jail) had nothing to do with her sudden cardiac arrest.

On the first day of testimony, jurors received a tour of the area in the jail where Brace was being held and saw the segregation room where she was being held. Federal civil rights charges were thrown out earlier in the case.


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